Penn Road gas blast: How a family whose home was wrecked by explosion are rebuilding

The property, on Penn Road, Wolverhampton, was severely damaged by the explosion which completely destroyed their neighbour, Wendy Ayoub's house on December 28, 2015.

Mrs Ayoub's property, which was built in the 1950s, was completely demolished earlier this year for safety reasons.

Plans for its two-storey replacement reveal a building of similar size, but with a slightly smaller ground-floor area, to allow for a new access at the back. In the plans, the ground-floor layout has been altered due to the 73 year old's mobility. The space where the garage stood would become a bedroom/day room, with separate shower room. The kitchen, where the blast occurred, would now be at the front of the house.

The family home, which belongs to Daljit Uppal, aged 49, is on the road to being fully restored with builders hard at work to get the family moved back in.

Mr Uppal, who runs Uppal Sweet Centre, based on Barcroft Road, said: "I do go into the house every day to see how it looks and how the work is going.

"Hiring consultants to manage the work was the best thing I ever did, as I now get updates every day on what's been done. Each day brings us closer to moving back in."

The family do not think, however, that they will be able to move into the house until January next year, with redecoration still planned to continue through into February. Mr Uppal said: "It's taken a long time but I'd rather have everything done right than have the job rushed.

"We've had new underfloor heating put in, we're just waiting for the new tiles to arrive. Then we've got tilers at work in the en suite, the whole kitchen has been taken out and we've had an electrician come and put spotlights in.

"It's all bare, newly-plastered walls at the moment, and obviously all the furniture had to come out. I've got some in storage and all the damaged stuff had to go, so we'll need to move in what we have left." The exterior left side wall of the house had to be replaced following the blast. Mr Uppal said: "That wall has been rebuilt now as has our utility room which was totally unsafe after the explosion.

"We've got central heating now, a new boiler fitted, so even though it's bare, it's getting to be more and more liveable each day. We can see how it's taking shape and I'm optimistic that we'll be able to move back in in the not too distant future."