Couple burned in explosion at caravan site

The 55-year-old man and a 51-year-old woman were burned by an explosion inside their touring vehicle parked at the Brow House Farm caravan site near Goathland, on the North Yorkshire moors. The couple are believed to be from Sleights, near Whitby.

Police said the explosion happened at about 6.45am yesterday and was apparently caused by a leaking gas cylinder.

The woman was kept at the James Cook Hospital in Middlesbrough but the man was taken on to a specialist unit in Newcastle, because he was burned over 30 per cent of his body.

A spokesman said: “The caravan was completely destroyed. A joint police and fire service investigation has begun.

“However, at this stage it is not being treated as suspicious and no-one else is being sought in connection with the incident.”

Brow House Farm, belonging to sheep farmer John Jackson, has often been seen on television, dressed down from its normal condition to feature as the home of Claude Greengrass in early series of TV programme Heartbeat.