Householders were evacuated for more than ten hours amid fears that gas cylinders would explode in a busy street.

A dozen families had to leave their homes in Oxford Road, Banbury, opposite the Horton Hospital, as fire crews dealt with a "potential bomb".

People living nearby were told to stay out of their gardens and Oxford Road was closed.

The alert came after a fire broke out in a garage containing oxy-acetylene cylinders as the owner prepared to work on a car. Firefighters put the flames out quickly but could not get near the cylinders because of the heat and threat of explosion.

They set up a hose to cool the cylinders and then retreated to a safe distance. Hours later, when it was safe to approach, they dunked them in an inflatable pool.

Resident Lesley Lawrence said she "ran like hell" to get away from the house. "I was having a rest and there was a mighty banging on the door. Then my son came running up and said we'd got to get out.

"I didn't know what was going on. I should have realised because there were fire engines outside, but when you live on a main road you can sleep through anything.

"I've got my dogs and my partner who is blind and we just sort of ran down the road. My elder son had got hold of my partner by the arm and was helping him.

"There was thick smoke everywhere and then some neighbours told me what had happened. "I was worried about the family in the house but when I found they were all out I was so relieved. It was so frightening." Neighbour Stella Amos, had a lucky escape - she was out at the time.

She said: "We were out bowling all afternoon but we knew there was something wrong because people arriving at the game couldn't come this way.

"The fire engines were still here when we came back at about 10.30pm and we had to get permission to drive in."

Insp Rob Angell, of Banbury police, said: "The action we took was to safeguard the public from any potential harm. We did this on advice from the fire service."

A fire service spokesman said the cylinders, which are used for welding, were extremely dangerous when hot and were "potential bombs".

He added: "They can kill. If they hit you, they can cause a lot of damage."

Another resident, Norman Haymer, 56, who was reading a newspaper at home when there was a frantic knock at the door.

"The man said, 'Get out quickly'. We were allowed back at about 5.45pm but within ten minutes there was another knock and we were out again because the cylinder just wouldn't cool down.

"We had to go to sleep with neighbours.said: "All the neighbours were sitting along the side of the road and we had a good time. It was quieter without the traffic."

Police and fire officers were investigating today the cause of the blaze.

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