Video: Pedestrian has lucky escape after pavement blast outside London shop

Man runs from scene as flames and smoke shoot up from the pavement

A man stands by as the gas pipe explodes on Pimlico Road

A pedestrian had a lucky escape after an explosion on a pavement outside a shop in central London yesterday.

Dramatic footage has emerged of the moment the blast, believed to have been caused by a damaged power cable, sent a fireball shooting into the air.

The video, which was posted on YouTube by resident Charlie Brook, who lives in a flat opposite, shows a man talking on his phone near to the site of the explosion.

He can be seen running from the scene as flames and smoke shoot up from the pavement.

Charlie Brooks, who shot the video, told the London Evening Standard: "I’m just glad no one was killed or hurt. There were three explosions. I went to the window and started filming after I heard the first. I didn’t know what it was. When I saw the second explosion I was frightened. I thought it was going to travel up the road and get worse.”

Last year a woman was hospitalised with serious burns and two other people were injured after a similar incident on Edgware Road.

The company that maintains London's electrical cable supply, UK Power Networks, told the Evening Standard: "At 10.25am today a fault on our underground electricity network in Pimlico Road interrupted power supplies to 1,867 customers.

"UK Power Networks engineers rerouted supplies to 861 customers within ten minutes and all supplies were reconnected by 1.55pm.

"Safety is our top priority and the cause of this incident is being investigated.

"We apologise to customers for the inconvenience caused by the power cut and our staff restored all supplies as quickly as was safely possible."