A CCTV camera which had to be taken down from the site of the Shrewsbury explosion because of work at the scene has now been reinstalled – nine months after the blast.

The camera was taken down in the aftermath of the explosion which happened on the corner of Bridge Street and Smithfield Road on January 3, injuring 12 people, destroying one building and damaging others.

David Roberts, environmental enforcement manager at Shropshire Council, today said the camera had now been re-installed and was due to go live by October 20.

He said: “The camera had to be taken down following the explosion because of the work going on in the area.

“It was quite a key camera for the night-time economy because it could monitor the situation in that part of town which is quite busy with bars and pubs.

“We have had a lot of questions from police and partnership agencies and Shop and Pub Watch asking when it was going to go back up.

“All of the cameras are important because each camera can watch another camera and this one is very useful for the public protection and safety.”

It was revealed last month that three of the victims of the Shrewsbury explosion are to pursue claims against BT following allegations it is responsible for the blast which left 12 people injured.

It emerged on September 27 that National Grid, in a solicitor’s letter, made allegations about BT relating to the cause of the blast which happened below a flat.

Four people who were in the flat were seriously injured, while actor Kiley McDonnell, who was starring in a pantomime at Theatre Severn, was left paralysed after he was hit by falling rubble in the explosion.

The letter from the solicitors for National Grid says that the McDonnell family is claiming compensation.

And Shrewsbury solicitor Jeremy Taylor, of Wace Morgan Solicitors, said he was representing Scott Godbold and Sarah Pearse, who were both left with serious burns when the flat they lived in was destroyed in the blast, as they look to pursue a claim against BT.

National Grid has refused to comment.

BT said it was aware of the claims against the company but had seen no evidence to support the allegations.

By Russell Roberts