A couple had a frightening awakening when their building partially collapsed in the early hours of Monday morning. 

Two people were rescued yesterday (March 1) who were trapped following a heater explosion in their flat on the High Street in Hampton Hill.

At around 4am firefighters forced entry to a second floor flat, leading the couple to safety.

The man and woman were stuck inside by the debris from what appears to have been an explosion from an immersion heater.

Three fire engines from Twickenham and Feltham stations were at the scene, where the building had partially collapsed.

Crews also evacuated four people from other flats as a precaution.

Leading Firefighter Tim Lucas, who was at the scene, said:

“It appears the immersion heater had exploded with quite some force and destroyed the cupboard it was in.

“The force of it blew out all the windows in the flat and part of a wall and the couple were trapped by the debris it had caused.

“They were asleep when it happened and fortunately the bedroom was at the furthest point away from the cupboard and the patio doors in the bedroom were the only glass in the flat which didn’t blow.

“They were very lucky - it would have been a very different outcome if they had been sleeping any closer to the cupboard or if they had got up in the night.”