TWO people died and two others were seriously injured in a blast at a power station, emergency services said today.

The explosion happened at the Enron plant in Redcar, Teesside, an ambulance spokesman said. The victims were badly burnt and have been taken to Middlesbrough General Hospital.

"There was a considerable explosion in a transformer at the Enron power station," said the spokesman.

"As a result there are two fatalities and two people have been injured. These are understood to be burns."

Three ambulances, a paramedic rapid response car and a number of doctors were at the scene, said the spokesman.

The ambulance service instigated special emergency procedures following the blast.

"We have many exercises that home in on many situations and incidents such as this," added the spokesman.

Police were called to the Wilton site in Grangetown at 2.45pm following a report of a large explosion. Fire services were also in attendance and the two dead were confirmed at the scene. The dead and injured were all men.

A Cleveland Police spokeswoman said: "There is no danger of any further explosions or of any off site complications."

The Health and Safety Executive confirmed that one inspector was sent to the scene and more will be sent tomorrow.

Spokesman Mark Fenwick said the role of the inspectors would be to establish answers to two questions, firstly what went wrong and secondly if it was anybody's fault.

He said the HSE were working in tandem with Cleveland Police Force.

"If there is any evidence to suggest that it is manslaughter case, at this stage nobody knows, then the investigation is led by the police. However, if it is an industrial action then HSE would lead the case."

A statement released by Enron Teesside Operations said: "We can confirm there was an explosion and subsequent fire at Teesside Power Station at around 2.45pm today.

"Emergency services were called and it is now under control and there is no danger off site. "The company has set up an incident control room and we are liaising with emergency services to deal with the situation."

One worker leaving the site said there were hundreds of workers at the plant at the time who were all evacuated.

A helpline has been set up on 01642 633 000.