Two dead and major incident declared after explosion

Two people have died and a major incident declared following an explosion in Bristol, police say.

Avon and Somerset Police were called to a residence in Sterncourt Road, Frenchay, at about 06:30 BST before officers cordoned off the area and evacuated nearby residents from their homes to a "temporary rest centre".

The force said the incident was being treated as suspicious, but "given the recent change to the UK threat level, we would like to reassure the public from the outset we are not treating this as a suspected terrorist incident".

"We ask people not to speculate around the circumstances and continue to encourage the public to avoid the area while emergency services respond," it added.

Officers said inquiries were "at an early stage, but at this point we are not looking for anyone else in connection with this incident".

The force has not yet confirmed what caused the explosion.

Bradley Shepherd, who lives on Bradeston Grove, said he heard a "large explosion noise" at about the time emergency services were called.

He said: "I sort of jumped out of bed to see what was going on.

"There was nothing immediately that I could see, but within minutes the police were arriving, attending the property. We had all emergency services there within 10 minutes, armed police.

"Within maybe about 15 or 20 minutes, once they had it cordoned off, they were instructing all the neighbourhood, the majority are probably 60-plus years of age, to actually evacuate their properties and take residence in the local Harvester [restaurant]."

Residents were moved from the restaurant to the nearby Begbrook Social Club at around 12:30 BST.

Harvester has since confirmed the restaurant has reopened to the public after "operating on a limited basis" to support residents who had been evacuated.

"We're proud to have been able to support our local community when it was needed most," it said.

Police said the cordon had been put in place "as a precaution to help keep the public safe".

There was not believed to be any significant damage to other properties, they added.

Officers were also carrying out inquiries at a property in Speedwell linked to the incident, the force said.

The College of Policing defines a major incident as "an event or situation with a range of serious consequences which requires special arrangements to be implemented by one or more emergency responder agencies".