One of the two plumbers accused of causing an explosion which blew up a house almost three years ago has died.

Richard Peters was working at a property on Beechcroft Road in April 2004 when the next door house was destroyed in a gas blast.

And the 58-year-old along with Harry Martin, 59, were due to stand trial after the Health and Safety Executive prosecuted them over the incident.

But Judge Douglas Field, sitting at Swindon crown court, has been told that Peters died on Friday October 13 last year.

After being shown a copy of the death certificate the judge ruled that the case against Peters should be stopped.

He said "It is ordered that the indictment be endorsed with this information and be declared now of no legal effect in respect of that defendant."

At an earlier hearing Peters, of Ruskin Avenue, Upper Stratton, had pleaded guilty to not being registered with Corgi, the national watchdog for gas safety.

But he denied two other charges, one of not working to the appropriate standards and another of not ensuring a previous gas supply was capped or sealed.

Martin, of Hyde Road, Upper Stratton, still faces charges relating to the explosion.

At an earlier magistrates court hearing he denied he was not registered with Corgi and that he carried out work which resulted in the gas leak.

He also denied not working to the appropriate standards and another charge of not ensuring a previous gas supply was capped or sealed.

The case against him has been adjourned to a trial date to be fixed.

Paul Hebden, whose Upper Stratton home was destroyed, only escaped because he had left home early to get to work at 7.30am on April 29 2004.

Within an hour of him leaving the sales consultant's house had exploded following a gas leak and was on the verge of collapse and he had to move out.

Describing the moment he first saw the damage he said "I decided to pop by to see for myself. I went round the back and it didn't look too bad. Then I saw the front and nearly fainted. A firefighter gave me oxygen."

Residents in the street had to be evacuated after the blast. The house has since been rebuilt but firefighters said the building was in danger of tumbling down and even opening a door could have triggered a collapse.