:00:08. > :00:13.Hello, I'm Simon Newton. First tonight, more on the gas explosion
:00:14. > :00:16.at Clacton that destroyed homes and left two people seriously ill in
:00:17. > :00:27.hospital. 20 homes were evacuated and a local primary school was
:00:28. > :00:32.closed. He falls of the explosion was huge. It left two semidetached
:00:33. > :00:39.homes in ruins. One totally obliterated. From the air the scale
:00:40. > :00:45.of the devastation is clear. The blast tore through the house as this
:00:46. > :00:52.man was driving his children to school. A lady was severely burnt.
:00:53. > :01:02.Another gentleman helped to get her out. It was just chaos. The woman
:01:03. > :01:08.was taken to hospital in Chelmsford with severe burns. A man in his 70s
:01:09. > :01:11.was airlifted to the hospital with life`threatening injuries. Eight
:01:12. > :01:20.others were taken to hospital by road. It sounded like a bomb going
:01:21. > :01:27.off. An earthquake. Windows shook and debris came in. The police have
:01:28. > :01:30.just allowed us up to the scene of the explosion. There is devastation
:01:31. > :01:37.for hundreds of yards around the house. Bits of building lying on the
:01:38. > :01:45.street, solar panels smashed and wreckage everywhere. The blast broke
:01:46. > :01:50.windows and tore down otters. Around 20 homes were evacuated as engineers
:01:51. > :01:55.worked to make the area safe. Late this afternoon contract has began
:01:56. > :02:01.demolition work. Essex firefighters save the force of this last was
:02:02. > :02:05.immense. Well, our reporter Mariam Issimdar
:02:06. > :02:12.is with me. Mariam, ten people were injured. What's their condition
:02:13. > :02:19.tonight? Two of those people were seriously injured. A man in his 70s
:02:20. > :02:26.and a woman in her 50s. The night they are in hospital where their
:02:27. > :02:30.condition is described as stable, but they have both enjoy life
:02:31. > :02:36.changing injuries. The other eight people were taken to Colchester
:02:37. > :02:40.General Hospital. Seven of them have been released and one is remaining
:02:41. > :02:46.in hospital for observation. And what has the Fire Service said was
:02:47. > :02:55.the cause? There is a strong suspicion there was a gas leak. It
:02:56. > :03:05.would be unlikely that it was anything other than gas that could
:03:06. > :03:12.cause an explosion like this. Today the UK's official gas safety body
:03:13. > :03:18.could not emphasise enough the importance of having gas appliances
:03:19. > :03:21.maintained. Badly maintained appliances can cause explosions,
:03:22. > :03:30.along with carbon monoxide poisoning. We advise having
:03:31. > :03:33.appliances serviced every year. Many residents who were evacuated are
:03:34. > :03:42.spending the night with friends and families. Thank you.
:03:43. > :03:45.A Harlow man who threatened to bomb a mosque has been jailed for 12
:03:46. > :03:48.months. Nigel Flanaghan had drunk three litres of vodka before
:03:49. > :03:51.dialling 999 to issue his fake bomb warning. Chelmsford Crown Court
:03:52. > :03:54.heard that officers arrived at his address while Flanaghan was still on
:03:55. > :03:57.his mobile talking to the control room.
:03:58. > :04:00.Opponents of a new bypass to the north of Norwich say they may take
:04:01. > :04:03.legal action against the County Council. The multi`million pound
:04:04. > :04:06.scheme will be the subject of a public enquiry later this year. But
:04:07. > :04:09.critics say their views were not included in the application sent to
:04:10. > :04:12.the Government. The County Council says all the responses it received
:04:13. > :04:15.were properly logged. Police searching for a man who went
:04:16. > :04:18.missing in Norfolk have found a body. 26`year`old Alan Morrison was
:04:19. > :04:22.reported missing from his home in Hevingham last night. The body was
:04:23. > :04:26.found this morning in woodland near the A140.
:04:27. > :04:29.This year about 50,000 young people in this region will start an
:04:30. > :04:32.apprenticeship. Figures released today show the number of places and
:04:33. > :04:35.the number of applicants are both rising. The official figures are
:04:36. > :04:39.taken after the school summer holidays. Between 2012 and 2013 the
:04:40. > :04:44.number of applications went up by nearly 10,000 across the Look East
:04:45. > :04:47.region. In the same period the number of apprenticeship vacancies
:04:48. > :04:55.rose by more than 600 to nearly 3,500.
:04:56. > :05:03.Our economy may be on the mend, but employment is still high. This is
:05:04. > :05:07.one reason why the government has been spending more money on
:05:08. > :05:11.apprenticeships. But across the economy there is a genuine need to
:05:12. > :05:18.train our young people. There is a huge skills shortage. This company
:05:19. > :05:30.has a training academy in great Yarmouth. Over the past year student
:05:31. > :05:35.numbers have gone up from 30 to 200. There is an increase in the need for
:05:36. > :05:42.wind turbines. The feature is bright for the next couple of years. This
:05:43. > :05:49.apprenticeship `` this apprentice is in her third year. She has plenty of
:05:50. > :05:58.prospects. I can go anywhere in the world. There are a lot of
:05:59. > :06:07.opportunities. Apprenticeships remain in demand. Over the past year
:06:08. > :06:11.applications have risen by 33%. With an average of 12 applicants for
:06:12. > :06:16.every vacancy, the government is urging more employers to come
:06:17. > :06:19.forward and offer apprenticeships. Colchester Castle will not be
:06:20. > :06:23.reopening to the public in time for the Easter holidays after all. The
:06:24. > :06:26.museum has been closed for nearly a year for a ?4 million face`lift. It
:06:27. > :06:37.was hoped it would open next month, but it will now re`open on May
:06:38. > :06:41.second. Now the weather. A few showers moving through
:06:42. > :06:44.overnight, but the most of us it will be tried with some clear
:06:45. > :06:49.spells. The winds will eventually ease and that will prevent
:06:50. > :06:54.temperatures from falling below five Celsius. Some showers in the
:06:55. > :06:59.morning, but for most of us a dry start. There will be some sunshine,
:07:00. > :07:11.but the crowd will eventually the can. Temperatures around average. ``
:07:12. > :07:13.the cloud. It will be a wet afternoon and the rain will continue
:07:14. > :07:19.throughout the evening and tomorrow night. Some of it will be heavy and
:07:20. > :07:30.we could see up to and inch of rain in places. On Friday another cloudy
:07:31. > :07:39.day with outbreaks of rain and eight blustery westerly wind.
:07:40. > :07:46.As you have just heard, the little respite between one storm system and
:07:47. > :07:50.another and it is that cumulative effect which will cause further
:07:51. > :07:58.problems in the coming days with risks of flooding and further damage
:07:59. > :08:02.and destruction. This area of cloud is Saturday's potential stormy
:08:03. > :08:07.weather. Before that we have clout to the north west of Spain and
:08:08. > :08:12.Portugal which will come our way tomorrow. That is hot on the heels
:08:13. > :08:16.of this area of cloud. It is still with us at the moment. The winds are
:08:17. > :08:23.easing down, but there are still some gusty winds in the central
:08:24. > :08:29.belt. It is wet and windy in Shetland, but compared to today the
:08:30. > :08:34.winds will be much lighter. It will be a chilly night into tomorrow
:08:35. > :08:38.morning with a touch of frost here and there. For Scotland, Northern
:08:39. > :08:44.Ireland and northern parts of England it should be pleasant enough
:08:45. > :08:45.Ireland and northern parts of with dry and bright weather. For the