Explosion at site earmarked for development

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about how a campaign group called Belper Against Tesco had secured a victory against the supermarket - which scrapped plans for a huge superstore development in the town after six years of wrangling with the locals.

But the plot thickens... as on Friday afternoon there was a huge explosion in Belper which rocked the town, sent a cloud of dust and debris into the sky and blocked roads.

Story and some really brilliant pictures here on the Derby Telegraph website.

Police have spent the weekend investigating the cause of the blast, in which luckily no one was injured, and a teenager has now been arrested in connection with the incident.

But it turns out that the explosion happened at a derelict old factory that had been earmarked as part of the Tesco development since 2007, and had previously attracted anti-social behaviour and arson attacks.

Local people are now suggesting that the site is not secure enough, which begs the question of what supermarkets are doing to protect areas they have bought up for development so that they don't become a blight for people who live nearby.

Tesco told our newspaper last night that is has 24-hour security at the site and is supporting the police with their enquiries into what happened.