A six-year-old boy and his grandfather had a lucky escape at the weekend when a greenhouse was blown apart.

The youngster and his 80-year-old grandfather were in the greenhouse when it was shattered by an explosion in a nearby shed.

The wooden shed and the greenhouse, on an allotment in Willington, County Durham, were destroyed and glass was blown into neighbouring plots.

But the pair escaped serious injury and only required treatment for shock at Bishop Auckland General Hospital.

Retained firefighters from Crook fire station, who attended the scene, behind West End Terrace, at 2pm on Saturday, said the blast could have been fatal.

Crew manager Stephen Clarke said: "It honestly could have killed them. The roof and both sides of the shed were blown off and two greenhouses completely destroyed.

"It was a mess and amazing really that they weren't hit by flying shards of glass or timber."

One witness said: "I heard the blast and saw greenhouse glass and wood from the shed being thrown into the other allotments.

"People said the windows shook and you could hear it a couple of streets away. It must have been really frightening to be up close, the little boy was really lucky."

Cylinders discovered inside the shed contained the gas propane, which is often used for heating outbuildings and greenhouses or heating and cooking outdoors.

Mr Clarke said: "There were three of four gas cylinders stored together and one of them had not been turned off properly. The gas could have been leaking out for a long time, building up until it eventually exploded.

"The other containers had to be cooled down so they didn't go up as well and afterwards, one of us took a spanner in to turn the valve right off.

"People have to be really careful with these cylinders, you must make sure they are completely shut when not in use."