Organisers of a fund set up to help those caught up in the Shrewsbury explosion are hoping to meet with the family members of those involved to discuss what they will need when they come home from hospital.

The Bridge Street Fund was set up to help some of the 12 people caught up in the explosion including those living at the first floor flat which collapsed.

A group set up on Facebook currently has 894 members with people pledging money and items such as clothing and furniture to those who lost everything in the blast.

Today Councillor Jon Tandy, from Shropshire Council, who is involved with the group, said he had been overwhelmed by people’s generosity.

He said: “The response from people is amazing and humbling.

“People say there is no community spirit anymore but I would say there is in Shrewsbury. This shows that massively.”

He added: “We’re waiting for a lot of cheques and bank transfers to go through but we’ll have a figure soon.

“We’re asking people not to give items but to hold onto them until we can sort out a place to store them.

“We are waiting to talk to the families to find out what they will want. We will have a meeting with them next week and we will go from there. We’ve had a couple of offers already for storage space but we don’t want to rush into it so we’re being a bit more cautious.

“The people from the flat have got nothing left, not even their clothes.”

People wishing to donate can send money to the fund via cheque, internet transfer or postal order to Just Credit Union, at Shirehall, in Shrewsbury, through the post or the reception.

The account details are account name: 455/2, account no: 50004674, sort code: 08-92-50.