A father and his four-year-old were hauled from the debris of the gas explosion in Southampton by 20 brave neighbours who quickly 'jumped in' to save them after the massive blast reduced the house to rubble.

Amazingly the 36 year old father and his daughter only suffered minor injuries in the explosion, thought to have been caused by gas at 1.30am this morning.

Neighbour Darren Terrell helped rescue the pair from the ruins after seeing the little girl's foot 'buried' in the rubble.

As he ran to the pile of bricks and glass he heard the father shouting 'can you find my daughter' before spotting her foot.

Mr Terrell carefully moved the debris so he could pull the youngster out.

They were rushed to hospital from their home in Southampton, Hants. Amazingly, by 8am they had been discharged and were staying at a friend's house.

The man's 36 year old wife, who works at Southampton General Hospital, returned from a nightshift to find her house completely demolished but her family okay.

Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service's control room received a dozen calls reporting the loud explosion on Howards Grove in the Shirley area of Southampton.

Three fire crews arrived to find the two-storey, end-of-terrace property - worth 155,000 pounds - completely collapsed but with the residents already safely out.

Rescuer Mr Terrell, a 38 year old father-of-three who lives behind the house, rushed over to help after being woken by the explosion.

He said he followed his 'natural instinct' which enabled him to pull the out of the rubble alive.

Mr Terrell, who works at Southampton city docks, said: "My wife and I were just lying in bed when we heard a huge bang and our whole house shook.

"I jumped up, pulled on my jeans and ran outside. At first I thought there must have been a car crash or something, but then I saw the house on the corner had exploded.

"I automatically ran round to it and heard a voice calling for help.

"I climbed up into the house, which was all open. There's not a window or door left in the place - I just climbed up in the rubble.

"It was just natural instinct that made me do it, a man was calling saying can you find my daughter so I did.

"It seemed she was buried somewhere and we couldn't see her.

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"Then I saw a foot and managed to move the rubble off to get to the little girl, picked her up and pulled her out. She clung onto me and I told the man I'd come back to me.

"The little girl was covered in dust but I didn't see any injuries, though I only had the street light to guide me.

"When we got outside, I sat her on the wall near some pensioners and went back in. One of them brought her out a coat to wear.

"I couldn't move the dad because he was stuck between the rubble and some furniture.

"Thankfully I got three workmen doing a night shift nearby to help me and we managed to get him out.

"I could smell gas the whole time but there was no fire and I was quite calm at the time.

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"The roof had fallen in so I guess it was a bit dangerous but I was only worried about getting the child out. This all happened before the fire crews got here but it seemed like a lifetime.

"As soon as I got them out I came back to my family and took my children to my sister's house to stay, I didn't hang around."

Mr Terrell is married to Lucy, a housewife, and has three children aged four, eight and nine.

He added: "Anyone else would have done the same thing and if it wasn't for the workmen I would never have got the man out - he was absolutely stuck.

"He was just thanking me for finding his daughter. I went running over barefoot in just my jeans without really thinking after I saw the state of the house.

"I guess it was risky but I didn't really think about that at the time. Anyone would have done it, I was just closest and the first one there."

He has lived in a terraced house behind the scene for about a year.

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Neighbour Stacey Crossan also lives behind the exploded house and said she thought a bomb had gone off.

Miss Crossan, 29, said: "My partner and I were asleep upstairs and heard the explosion. It sounded like a bomb had gone off and made the whole house shake.

"I had no idea what was happening and thought maybe a car had driven into the side of our house.

"We looked out of the back window but couldn't see anything and went rushing to the front window instead and saw the house on the corner was completely gone.

"We dashed down the stairs and out of the front door and our neighbours were rushing around saying we all had to get out.

"By the time we'd checked everyone was ok and got my little girl up, the police were here."

Miss Crossan, her partner Ian Hopkins, a tattooist, 29, and daughter Lily Hopkins, nine, were evacuated to stay with family and left wearing dressing gowns and shoes.

Retired shop worker Dilys Ferrett, 74, and her husband were also evacuated and have lived in the block since it was built 47 years ago.

Neighbour Kev Crook said he was woken at 1.30am when he heard the explosion.

He said: "I just heard this massive bang - I thought it was a clap of thunder but it didn't sound quite right.

"I got out of bed and I couldn't believe what I saw - everything had just crashed, it was like the house had been given a great big shake."

Kerry Hearne, 40, who lives on the street, added: "It was the most frightening boom.

"To see the devastation this morning is incredible.

"It literally almost threw us out of bed it was so bad. The boom was phenomenal, I can't even describe it."

One woman, in her forties who did not want to be named, said: "I heard a loud bang - it was huge.

"There were lots of people coming out of their houses. There were people jumping into the rubble to try to see if there was anyone in there.

"There were probably about 20 people jumping in. They started pulling things around."

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Station manager Steve Buchanan-Lee said: "The fact both of them escaped relatively unharmed is nothing short of a miracle.

"The explosion appears to have been caused by gas and reduced the whole property to rubble."

The other houses in the terrace were evacuated as a precaution as the crews, assisted by HFRS's Urban Search and Rescue team, worked to ensure there was no further collapse of the building.

Engineers from the gas network and Southampton City Council were also called to further investigate the cause of the explosion.