Newcastle explosion: Claim homeowner complained about leaking gas boiler but was 'put off' by council

Newcastle City Council has refused to speculate on the cause of a deadly house explosion in Newcastle, after a claim emerged that the homeowner had complained about their leaking gas boiler - but had been "put off" by the local authority.

A and a tragically died following the blast in Benwell, Newcastle, in the early hours of Wednesday. Emergency services, including eight fire appliances and specialist search teams, were called to Violet Close shortly before 1am.

Drone pictures from above the street showed at least one house appeared to have been completely destroyed, with roofs collapsed and firefighters working among the rubble. After the explosion, a local who knew the family affected claimed that they were having problems with their boiler leaking but had been "put off" by the council.

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The neighbour added that the family was using their neighbour's heater as they had no gas. The unnamed local said: "She was complaining about her heating being off and her boiler leaking and the council put her off.

"It's disgusting. She was using her next door neighbour's heater because she had no gas. Everyone is just very upset at the moment."

Newcastle City Council told The that it "cannot speculate on what has happened", but said it would support emergency services with the investigation.

A spokesperson for the council said: "We know that there is a lot of speculation about the cause. We will be supporting emergency services with their investigations, but we cannot speculate on what has happened at this time."

The victims of the explosion were named locally as Archie York and Jason Laws, known as Jay. Archie's family described him as a "lovely lad" who enjoyed playing out. Paying tribute to Archie, a neighbour said yesterday: "Everybody knew him. He was a lovely lad. The family are in bits. Archie was always with his dad and he was playing outside a lot. You would see him with his two . He went to a school just up the road from here. My kids are having nightmares about what happened."

His aunt Abbie York said the family are "all so truly devastated and heartbroken beyond words." She added in a post: "Archie was my nephew and the most beautiful, funny, & caring little boy and his name deserves to be shouted from the rooftops! We all love you so much little man, you didn't deserve this."

Earlier today, Jason's body was recovered from the . Paying tribute on , his brother, Joseph Laws, said his family was "in bits" after the tragedy. He wrote: "One thing I can say you have been the best big brother I could ask for you would be willing to die for me and protected me the past 30 years even when I didn't need protected anymore."

Jay was described by his brother as the "best dad in the " as he said he would remind his brother's kids "as they get older" and promised "they will grow up to be respectful proper adults and not miss out on anything". He concluded his heartbreaking tribute by saying "you live on", and: "When [I] say a thousand mems [I] mean a thousand and 1 love you till I see you again my brosky. Remember - LEGENDS NEVER DIE."