|PIC1|The Bishop of St Albans, the Rt. Rev. Christopher Herbert, has offered his prayers for those injured and affected by the huge explosion at the Buncefield Oil Depot at Hemel Hempstead.

He said: “My prayers and thoughts are with the injured and with the emergency services who are continuing to fight the fire and support the many hundreds of people whose lives have been affected by this explosion.

“My colleagues in the parishes of Hemel Hempstead are focused on providing spiritual and practical help to the community who will no doubt be in shock but grateful that more people were not injured.

“In addition chaplains have been supporting the Police, the Fire Service and the local hospitals as they continue to work in the area," said Rev. Herbert.

The Rev. Dave Middlebrook, priest to the Parish of Adeyfield which covers the location of the depot, said: “Everyone in the area was very clearly shaken by the events of today, and I suspect that for many the shock will come out over the next few days.

“For those who have suffered damage to their homes they feel in some way 'violated'. For those who have had their places of work destroyed they feel fearful about their future employment and security.

“For those who have begun to make connections with what might have been had the incident happened on a busy working day, in daytime hours, there is a realisation of the potential horror that could have occurred. |QUOTE|

“All these aspects add together to make a community in shock, but one that is strong and determined to help and support one another at this difficult time.”

The enormous blast at 6am on Sunday morning sent a towering plume of black smoke into the air which formed into a toxic cloud that had covered London by Sunday evening.

Rev. Middlebrook added: “I thank God that the casualties and damage was actually so light in such a potentially terrible incident. Throughout the day we could look out of one window in our house and see beautiful clear blue sky, and out of the other it was pitch black - however in a way it felt that the clear blue bright sky was driving away the dark black cloud - an image that I know will stay with me from today.”