LIFE was last night returning to normal for dozens of householders who were evacuated from their homes after a garage fire prompted an explosion alert.

About 50 families were told to get out as a blaze destroyed two garages in Enfield Road, Eastlea, Seaham, early on Sunday evening.

The cause of the fire is thought to have been accidental while work was being carried out on one of four cars in the garages, which are in the middle of a residential area.

Inside were four propane cylinders. There was also one containing oxyacetylene - used for welding - which firefighters feared could be turned into a mini-bomb by the heat.

The fire, which was confined to the garages, was put out within about two hours but the risk of an explosion remained for 24 hours.

Homes were evacuated as a precaution and in the early stages of the blaze, roads in the area were closed.

Householders were allowed home yesterday morning but roads near the garages remained cordoned off until the danger of a blast had receded.

Through the night and during most of yesterday, firefighters used a monitor to spray water on the cylinder to cool it down.

A man believed to have been working in the garages suffered burns to his arms. He was taken to Sunderland Royal Hospital and later transferred to the Royal Victoria Infirmary, in Newcastle.

About a dozen homes lost their electricity supply as a result of the blaze but workmen from supply firm NEDL were unable to start work to restore it until firefighters lifted the cordon yesterday afternoon.

Fire brigade station manager Steve Wharton said the fire, tackled at its height by four crews, was "quite severe".

"The four propane cylinders were safe once they had cooled, but oxyacetylene becomes unstable when it has been heated up," he said. "The way to look at it is as if it were an unexploded bomb. After a 24-hour period it becomes safe and can be removed.''

Harry Lawson, 77, and his wife Norma, 73, of Evesham Road, were among those who had to leave their homes. They spent the night in the accommodation where their son, Jeffrey, lives.

Mr Lawson said they returned home in the morning to find the electricity was off.

Arthur Lane, 85, and his wife Elizabeth, also of Evesham Road, had to spend the night at their son's home in Burdon Village.

Mr Lane, a volunteer bowling coach for Seaham Town Council, said: "I was watching Manchester United v Everton on the television and there was a knock on the door and we were told we had to get out.

"The flames were as high as the wash-house and there was a lot of smoke. It was a mini-Hemel Hempstead.''