Massive burger van explosion sends rubble flying as seaside town rocked

An arrest has been made after a burger van exploded in a seaside town, damaging nearby homes and caravans.

A man in his twenties has been arrested on suspicion of arson after an explosion in Winterton-on-Sea in this morning.

A blaze is thought to have broken out in a shed at around 6:30am before spreading to a burger van and propane gas canister, with four nearby houses evacuated by .

“A couple of burger vans and a few cars around there have been burnt,” one resident said. “The heat has damaged the back of our property so it must have been tremendous… it’s melted all the guttering; it’s done quite a bit of damage.”

The fire had also caused “lots of explosions”, Ron Anderson, 65, told the .

“We were rocked by a massive explosion in our village,” an anonymous local added. “It appears [that] gas canisters blew up, taking a brick building with it and showering neighbouring properties with bricks.”

They told the Great Yarmouth Mercury that two camper vans had also been reduced to “bare metal” after being caught in the “blast”.

Norfolk Police said officers and the fire service were called to the scene at around 7am after reports that a fire had “set alight to a truck, car and propane gas canister”.

“As a precaution, a cordon was in place and four houses near to the scene were evacuated while the fire was safely dealt with,” they said. “Residents have now returned to their homes and the cordon has been taken down. There were no casualties.”

“A man in his twenties has been arrested on suspicion of arson and taken to Great Yarmouith Police Investigation Centre for questioning,” the force added.

Anyone with information about the fire can contact Norfolk Police by ringing 101 and quoting reference 36J1/152/25.