THE explosion which killed a York father was an unforeseeable accident, an inquest has concluded.

Paul Wilmott, 63, died from a fractured skull and brain injuries when his home in Springwood, Haxby, was destroyed by a gas explosion at about 7.30am on February 19, 2016.

Following yesterday's evidence, which suggested a gas pipe underneath the ground floor of the house had fractured after a long period of corrosion, the inquest at New Earswick's Quaker Meeting House heard from Steve Critchlow, a gas engineer and investigator for the HSE's science division.

Mr Critchlow said the leak from the pipe would only have taken around an hour to fill the house with enough gas to cause the fatal explosion, and his investigation of the scene quickly discounted the suggestion made to police that the explosion had been caused by some sort of bomb material.

Mr Critchlow said scorch marking on the door frame and remains of the dividing wall between the kitchen and dining room indicated the location of the fractured pipe and the presence of a gas leak.

York Press:

The corroded and fractured gas pipe which leaked, causing the explosion. Picture: HSE.

The fracture, he said, was "very, very unusual", and the movement of the pipe during excavation suggested it had been under tension from shifting ground since it was first installed.

Mr Critchlow said: "This was a natural gas incident, a very unfortunate one that probably could not have been foreseen.

"That was caused by failure of the pipe due partially to corrosion and partially but more so to movement of the floor in which it was buried."

Mr Critchlow said rainfall in days and weeks prior to the explosion was "almost certainly one of the contributing factors", but the pipe had not been leaking for long prior to the explosion.

He said the explosion could have been triggered by "an electrical spark", "a light switch, timing switch, an automatic appliance coming on".

York Press:

Mr Critchlow said Mr Wilmott might not have noticed the smell of gas if it had been leaking throughout the night as he may have become "desensitised to the smell while asleep".

The jury concluded Mr Wilmott died "due to injuries sustained as a result of a gas explosion, causing the house to collapse. The explosion was caused by stress corrosion fracture of a gas pipe embedded in the floor of the house".