A NEW house is set to be built on the site of a devastating gas explosion.

Work is set to start on replacing the semi-detached house in Cloes Lane which was reduced to rubble in the blast in February 2014.

The force of the explosion also wiped out a second home and several others in the street were damaged as debris was launched through the air.

Two people suffered serious injuries in the explosion, while seven others needed hospital treatment.

Now the destroyed house – which was owned by Tendring Council – is set to be replaced with a new building.

Planning permission has already been granted for a three or four bedroom semi-detached home with a car port on the site.

Construction firm Rose Builders will take on the project. Contractors are due to start work on-site soon, with the scheme set to take 22 weeks to complete.

Space will be left for the other half of the semi-detached house - which was also partially destroyed in the blast and had to be demolished – to be rebuilt at a later date by the owners.

An investigation into the 2014 explosion found there had been a fault on a gas cylinder valve at the Cloes Lane site.

Brave passers-by rushed into the wreckage to pull injured casualties to safety.

An evacuation centre was set up and the community rallied around those affected by the blast.