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All in a day’s work, says PCSO hurt in explosion

by Stuart Greer and Mike Keegan
25/ 6/2008

AN Oldham PCSO was almost blinded after an underground explosion in the town centre.

Nicola Shipway was on the beat on Yorkshire Street last week when she heard a loud noise near roadworks.

She went to investigate, but as she crouched down, there was another loud bang and the pavement in front of her disintegrated, sending deb-ris flying into her face.

The 33-year-old was knocked over by the force of the blast and lost her sight for a few seconds.

She was taken to Royal Oldham Hospital where she was treated for cuts to her arm and scratches on her eye.

Nicola, from Blackley, has been told to rest at home for another week.

She said: "I was on the floor and couldn’t see anything. I was panicking and quite frightened.It felt like I was punched in the face. They’ve told me to stay away from sunlight for seven days.Apparently there are a lot of scratches on my eye but they’ve given me strong painkillers and drops."

Nicola has shrugged off her ordeal and is taking the incident in her stride.

"The whole thing was quite bizarre and I’ve never known anything like it happen before," she said. "Because there were roadworks I just thought it was a gas leak. My main concern was making sure the area was cleared when it happened and I was a bit shocked. But I suppose it’s all in a day’s work – anything can happen in this job."

Fire crews and ambulances were called to the explosion, which happened at 9.50am last Wednesday.

Several commercial properties, including Car 5000 taxi firm, were evacuated as a precaution, and roads were closed for two hours after the blast while an investigation was carried out.

A spokeswoman for United Utilities said the explosion occurred in a service cable leading into a disused pub.