Ref. 30384-58DISASTER specialists who helped victims of the Boscastle floods in Cornwall will oversee repairs to a Swindon home ripped apart in a gas explosion.

Paul Hebden, 40, could be back in his semi-detached house next spring a year after the explosion left him with just the clothes he stood up in.

Cardiff-based Cunningham-Lindsey UK have written to Mr Hebden confirming that repair work estimated at £129,000 will begin on Monday.

In April we reported how the salesman owed his life to a packet of sandwiches.

That morning Mr Hebden had decided to buy his lunch from a shop rather than make them.

Minutes later the explosion ripped through the house in Beechcroft Road, Upper Stratton, making it inhabitable.

To add to his woes, the salesman lost his job at Calne-based removal firm, Quickmove.

Mr Hebden, who is currently in temporary accommodation in St Austell Way, Rodbourne, can't wait to move back in.

He said: "I have been told that the work is likely to take about 26 weeks. It seems ironic that I could be back there on the anniversary of the explosion."

Mr Hebden described the past six months as a rollercoaster ride. Since the explosion he has gone from one job to another.

"Not only did I lose my house I also lost a very good job, which I really enjoyed," he said.

"That gave me more grief than anything else."

His employers at the small firm were forced to sack him because he was taking too much time off.

But Mr Hebden said he holds no grudge and understood why they had to let him go. In August, the future started to look brighter after he secured a job with another removal firm.

But within weeks he was forced to quit because of the long distances he was required to travel.

"A lot of the work was in Stourbridge in the West Midlands," he said.

"That meant a good two-and-a-half hour drive every morning before I even started working. I couldn't keep that up.

"It's a shame because it was in the line of work that I knew best. But it wasn't viable."

While drowning his sorrows in a pub after the incident, he met a new girlfriend but Mr Hebden did not want to comment on the current state of his love life.

A spokesperson for Cunningham Lindsey UK said: "Any claim involving a property that has been subject to a major incident, such as a gas explosion, is obviously very traumatic for the homeowner.

"Our aim is to get the policyholder back into their home as soon as possible and with the minimum disruption."

Kevin Shoesmith