Prosecutors to consider report into Cleat Hill blast

Prosecutors are considering a report prepared by police investigating a house explosion near a gas borehole which left two elderly people dead, a coroner has been told.

A senior detective updated coroner Emma Whitting on investigations into the blast at Cleat Hill, Bedford, on 19 October 2024.

Whitting is overseeing inquests into the deaths of Paul Swales, 85, and Julia Harris, 84.

At preliminary inquest hearings in Ampthill, Det Ch Insp Matt Inwood told the coroner that an inquiry report had recently been handed to the Crown Prosecution Service.

The explosion occurred in the same area where, in July 2024, contractors struck a pocket of natural gas while drilling a borehole to install a heat pump.

Health and Safety Executive (HSE) officials said in November 2024 that the 100m (328ft) borehole had being plugged with cement to ensure it was "gas tight", according to safety officers.

Residents spent eight weeks in temporary accommodation after the explosion - before returning to their homes.

Bedford Borough Council has said the site's future would be "informed by appropriate legal processes".

Inwood told the inquest hearing on Tuesday that he could only provide "limited" information relating to "on-going criminal matters".

He said he could not name any suspects but told the hearing that investigations were police-led and had been focussed on the cause of the explosion.

Inwood said the CPS had indicated that prosecutors would need about three months to review the report.

Whitting was told that Swales had been found dead after the explosion and Harris had died in hospital.

Whitting indicated that she would stage further inquest hearings on dates to be fixed.

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