Man critical after blast at house in London

A man is in a critical condition and three police officers were injured in an explosion at a house being visited by bailiffs, police said.

Officers were called to the house in Stapleton Hall Road, near Finsbury Park, north-east London, at around 11.50am on Wednesday to reports of a "man armed with a weapon".

Fire and ambulance services were also called after the "small" explosion caused "life-threatening" injuries to a man inside the property.

The man, in his mid-fifties, was involved in an ongoing housing dispute, the Metropolitan Police said.

Paul Matthews, a long-time friend of the injured man who was present at the scene, said he was "worried" about his welfare after he sustained serious injuries amid rumours of an "ongoing" family dispute.

Mr Matthews, 55, said: "I am told he has got 80% burns. I hope he makes it.

"He lived there all his life. He has grown up there.

"Of course all of this affects me because he is like a brother to me."

Taxi driver Zoheir Cheref, 42, who lives in the street, said: "I heard an explosion. I saw big smoke and police shouting for people to move backwards and out of the way because there was an explosion.

"It was solid smoke. The explosion was very noisy."

A Met spokesman said it was understood that bailiffs were at the house along with the suspect's family.

He said: "Inquiries into the cause of the explosion are ongoing. This incident is not being treated as terrorism-related.

"Two female police officers and one male police officer sustained injuries as a result of this incident and have been taken to hospital for treatment. Their injuries are not believed to be serious.

"Police are not looking for anyone else in connection with this incident. There are no other reported injuries."

Some 10 fire engines and 72 firefighters and officers were at the scene of the explosion, London Fire Brigade (LFB) said.

The basement of the terraced house, part of the ground floor and a shed in the rear garden were ablaze.

Sean Madeley, an LFB station officer, said firefighters were faced with a "severe fire" when they arrived at the house with a basement and two floors.

He said: "Initially we put our breathing apparatus crew with a jet supporter to fight the fire from the inside.They were able to do that quite successfully on the lower ground floor and on the ground floor.

"Unfortunately the staircase area became severely damaged and so we had to withdraw crews because we were not able to get to the upper floors due to the fire damage.

"We then used jet support from the rear of the property to fight the fire and also our aerial ladder platform which is being used are present to deal with the fire which still remains up in the roof area."

No firefighters are currently inside the building.

On the damage caused, Mr Madeley said: "We will not be able to make a real good estimation of that until the fire is out and we can gain access to the house to see what the integrity of the structure is."