A busy street in Boston, Lincolnshire, was rocked by an explosion on Thursday afternoon, sending paving slabs and rubble flying into the air just feet from shoppers. Flames then erupted from the hole left in the pavement.
A couple had just crossed the road and were seconds away from the blast when it occurred outside a busy car park. No injuries were reported.
Emergency services responded to the incident, which was caused by a fault in an underground electrical cable. The blaze had extinguished itself by the time firefighters arrived on the scene.
The incident resulted in a power cut affecting 68 properties in the Boston area. National Grid Electricity Distribution stated that power was restored to all customers by 8:59 p.m., nearly nine hours after the initial fault at 1 p.m.
"At 1pm on Thursday 20 August, a fault on our underground electricity network caused a power cut affecting 68 properties in Boston," a spokesperson for National Grid Electricity Distribution said. "Supplies were isolated while the situation was made safe, and power was restored to all customers by 8.59pm. There was a small fire as a result of the underground cable fault. The situation was promptly made safe by Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Service and our engineers. We'd like to thank Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Service for its swift response to the incident."