A man has been found dead among the debris following an explosion at a house in Nottinghamshire.

Emergency services were called to John Street, Worksop, on Saturday evening after reports that a house had collapsed in the blast, and a major incident was declared.

Nottinghamshire Police said on Sunday afternoon that the body of a man in his 50s was later recovered in the wreckage and, despite the best efforts of emergency services, he died at the scene.

Firefighters from the town were joined at the scene by crews from Warsop and Mansfield, and Clowne in Derbyshire, after the incident happened at 7.39pm.

The terraced property was “partially destroyed” and neighbouring homes suffered “significant damage”, Nottinghamshire Police said, with people evacuated from multiple properties.

Videos posted on social media showed the front of a terraced house blown out and the roof collapsed, while neighbouring houses suffered damage to windows.

A Facebook user reported a “huge” bang that shook the surrounding properties, while another described “a terrific bang, like a very loud firework”.

Chief Inspector Clive Collings, from Nottinghamshire Police, described it as “an extremely serious incident that has led to a man’s untimely death”.

He said the incident “will have come as a shock to the community in Worksop” and specially trained officers are supporting the man’s family, who have been told of his death.

“Anyone who may have been in the area at the time is now accounted for,” he added.

Chief Inspector Collings said the cordon and road closures will probably remain in place for some time while investigations continue.

Multiple residents from in and around John Street were asked to leave, he said, and are being supported by Nottinghamshire County Council staff.

He warned people against using drones as flying a drone over or near an ongoing emergency response without permission is an offence.

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An emergency bill to save British Steel’s Scunthorpe blast furnaces has become law.

The urgent legislation gives ministers the power to instruct British Steel to keep the plant open.

The bill was rushed through the House of Commons and House of Lords in one day, with MPs and peers being recalled from recess to take part in a Saturday sitting for the first time in over 40 years.

Emergency bill becomes law – follow the latest reaction here

After passing through both houses of parliament, the Steel Industry (Special Measures) Bill was granted royal assent by the King.

The bill gives the government the power to take control of British Steel – or any other steel asset – “using force if necessary”, order materials for steelmaking and instruct that workers be paid. It also authorises a jail sentence of up to two years for anyone breaching this law.

Sir Keir Starmer hailed the legislation for “turning the page on a decade of decline”, adding “all options are on the table to secure the future of the industry”.

It will mean the steel plant in Scunthorpe will continue to operate as the government decides on a long-term strategy, and steelmaking in the UK more broadly.

Officials from the Department for Business and Trade arrived at the site before the bill had even passed, Sky News understands.

Earlier, staff from the plant’s ousted Chinese owners Jingye were denied access, with police called over a “suspected breach of peace” – though officers found “no concerns”.

Ministers took the unusual step of recalling parliament from its recess to sit on Saturday after negotiations with Jingye appeared to break down.

Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the measures within the bill were “proportionate and necessary” to keep the Scunthorpe blast furnaces open and protect both the UK’s primary steelmaking capacity and the 3,500 jobs involved.

The emergency legislation stops short of full nationalisation of British Steel, but Mr Reynolds told MPs that public ownership remained the “likely option” for the future.

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During the debate, several Conservative MPs, Reform UK’s deputy leader Richard Tice and the Liberal Democrats’ deputy leader Daisy Cooper all spoke in favour of nationalisation.

MPs had broken up for the Easter holidays on Tuesday and had not been due to return until Tuesday 22 April.

The business secretary accused Jingye of failing to negotiate “in good faith” after it decided to stop buying enough raw materials to keep the blast furnaces at Scunthorpe going.

But the Conservatives said the government should have acted sooner, with shadow leader of the house Alex Burghart accusing ministers of making “a total pig’s breakfast” of the situation regarding British Steel.

The government was also criticised for acting to save the Scunthorpe plant but not taking the same action when the Tata Steel works in Port Talbot were threatened with closure.

A major incident has been declared in Nottinghamshire after a gas explosion caused a house to collapse.

There is still a “substantial emergency service presence” in place after the explosion in John Street, Worksop just after 7.30pm on Saturday.

Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service (NFRS) declared it a “major incident” and said “multiple houses in and around John Street have been evacuated”. Nearby Crown Place Community Centre has been opened as a “place of safety”, the service said. Around 20 people have sought refuge there, Sky News camera operator James Evans-Jones said from the scene.

Videos posted on social media showed the front of a terraced house blown out with the roof collapsed, while neighbouring houses had their windows damaged.

NFRS said in a statement late on Saturday: “This has now been declared a major incident, and we are likely to be on scene throughout the night and even into Sunday morning.”

The fire service said it was called to the scene at 7.39pm.

“This is a gas explosion involving a house that has been significantly damaged,” the service said in a previous statement.

One person posted on Facebook that they heard “a terrific bang, like a very loud firework” as they turned into Gladstone Street from Gateford Road.

“I thought the back end had blown off my car,” they said. “A house in John Street has had, presumably, a gas explosion!”

NFRS said it was also called to a separate incident shortly afterwards but does not believe the two are connected.

Ten fire engines were sent to the scene of the industrial fire in nearby Holgate Road in The Meadows, Nottingham.

“The building has been severely damaged but there are no reports of any injuries,” NFRS said.

Having been called to the incident at 8.11pm, NFRS said at around 10.30pm that it was scaling its response down with the flames “now under control”.

NFRS’s group manager Leigh Holmes said from the scene just after 11pm: “We will begin to relax the cordon in the next hour as we continue to scale down this incident.”

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