Plans to build homes on a site devastated by an explosion have been approved.

One property collapsed and three others were damaged beyond repair by the gas blast in Willesborough, Ashford.

Now four new modern homes are set to be built in their place.

Seven people were injured in the explosion, which hit residents at 13 to 19 Mill View at just before 8am on May 4, 2021.

Bricks and mortar were thrown into the road, destroying two cars and reaching as far as the opposite pavement.

Shaken residents – many still wearing their pyjamas – poured from their homes to see flames and smoke coming out of the buildings.

With emergency services on the way, father-and-son Andy and Harry Hodges ran into the flames of the building where the explosion had come from to rescue trapped residents.

The pair dashed into the ruined remains of number 15 and recovered Donald Hanford, who was 75 at the time, before going back in and recovering his mother, 99-year-old Ethel.

Neighbouring properties and houses in the immediate surrounding area were evacuated by emergency services and residents were taken to an emergency relief centre that was quickly set up in St Mary the Virgin Church.

It was a full eight hours before any were allowed back into their homes, with those closest to the epicentre of the blast kept away overnight.

Following the explosion, five victims were taken to the William Harvey Hospital and two taken to London with what would later be described as "life-changing" injuries.

All seven survived but one house had been completely destroyed and the others were structurally damaged beyond saving.

Subsequent investigations determined that the explosion had been caused by a leak in a portable gas heater at number 15, which bore the worst of the shockwave and ensuing fire.

Several months later, the demolition work was carried out and black hoardings were erected around the empty site.

The plans for the four new replacement homes were passed unanimously at an Ashford Borough Council planning committee meeting earlier this month.

A spokesman for Ashford Borough Council said: “We are pleased that the application was agreed at planning committee. We have begun to look at the procurement of relevant contractors to help us move forward with the project.

“Once this work is completed we will then need to assess our finances as a whole to ensure that the project can be delivered as part of the wider programme of development and other work we are undertaking in the housing service and we’ll then begin to rebuild the homes.”