LANDLORDS of a Bury pub ripped apart in a massive gas explosion have talked of their miraculous escape. Kevin Farrell, his wife Pam and their 11-year-old daughter Stephanie walked away with just bruises from the blast which destroyed the Bridge Inn Pub on Manchester Road, Blackford Bridge.

Surveying the mountain of rubble and debris where their home once stood, Mr Farrell said: "I just can't believe we all got out alive. That pub was our life - I can't believe that pile of rubble was our home."

The blast early on Saturday morning blew off the front of the building and part of the roof. At one point, the only thing holding up the roof was a solitary wardrobe. Bulldozers have now demolished the remainder of the building, which was the second oldest pub in Bury.

The drama happened at 6.30am on Saturday while the family were sleeping upstairs. Mr Farrell explained: "I was working in the cellar until 12.30am, then sat up watching TV, before going to bed at about 2am.

"The next thing I heard was Pam shouting for me to get out. I thought a truck had hit the pub. Part of the ceiling was on the bed and when I looked up I could see the road outside. The walls had been blown out."

The family scrambled out of the building through a fire escape and passers-by helped the stunned trio to safety. The couple's other daughter Rachel, 13, had been staying over at a friend's house on the night of the explosion.

Mrs Farrell said: "I shouted at Kevin and Stephanie to get out. Luckily the ladders on the girls' bunk beds had stopped the floorboards from shooting up and hitting Stephanie on the head. We just ran out in our pyjamas. My husband just had his underpants on. We couldn't get any clothes because the wardrobes were hanging out the side of the house."

"It really hasn't sunk in yet exactly what's happened. I feel like it's not real. If it had been eight hours earlier the pub would have been packed with people."

Experts from gas company Transco are still working to determine the exact cause of the explosion.

In the meantime the family are staying with Mr Farrell's mother in Walkden, until they hear if they can be rehomed near to Castlebrook High School in Bury where Stephanie and Rachel are pupils.

Friends and family have rallied round providing the family with clothes and school equipment for the children.

The family, who had lived at the Manchester pub for 15 years, lost all their possessions in the explosion, including irreplacable items.

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