A firefighter suffered neck and head injuries while trying to fight a major blaze at a rugby club's former ground, writes Roseena Parveen.

The pavilion at Gosford All Blacks' old ground in Langford Lane, Kidlington, was ablaze for several hours yesterday.

Police are investigating the cause of the fire, but are not treating it as suspicious.

A huge explosion was heard in the area. Five fire crews sent to tackle the blaze found a propane gas cylinder at the scene and the single storey wooden building well alight.

A 31-year-old firefighter was taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, for treatment after a chunk of plasterboard fell on to his head, but he was later released. No-one else was hurt.

Firefighters who were called at about 11am took five hours to put out the blaze.

Gosford All Blacks left the building after 40 years in November last year to move to new premises near Stratfield Brake, south of Kidlington.

Club chairman Liam King said: "We have no idea what started the fire. We leased the building from a landlord. In all our time there we had no problems."