Homes were shaken across Coventry as a huge bang was reported in the Longford area.
Many people reported hearing - and feeling - what sounded like a loud explosion in the Longford area of the city at about 9.30pm on Sunday, December 2.
A large emergency services presence was in the area, including fire crews and a police helicopter.
People contacted us to say the incident happened on or near the Rowleys Green Industrial Estate near the Ricoh Arena.
There were also reports a gas sub-station in Grindle Road was involved, although this was later dismissed by the emergency services.
Other theories which have been discounted include a light plane crash, a lorry crashing off a bridge, an earthquake and a jet plane breaking the sound barrier.
We'll endeavour to keep you updated about this breaking story as much as possible.
Scroll down for live updates
Coventry 'explosion' mystery
Jet theory dismissed
Here’s more on the MoD saying the deafening bang was NOT caused by supersonic jets.
MoD statement
In a brief statement, a spokesman for the Ministry of Defence said: “We’ve checked with the RAF and there were no fast jets over Coventry at that time.”
No word yet from MoD
We’re still waiting to hear back from the Ministry of Defence about whether the boom was caused by supersonic jets.
Hopefully we can soon put this mystery to bed once and for all.
Police statement
Police say they have carried out “extensive enquiries” to find the source of last night’s boom.
Click here to read more.
Fire service statement
West Midlands Fire Service have issued the following statement.
Sonic boom theory
There are some wild theories about what caused last night’s explosion - ranging from a plane crash to a gas explosion - all of which have been discounted apart from the sonic boom theory.
This is caused when a jet breaks the sound barrier.
Two streets checked
The fire service spokesman said it “materialised that nothing” needed their crews’ attention after checks were carried out in Grindle Road and Milverton Road.
Fire service speaks
West Midlands Fire Service has told CoventryLive that it was called to Grindle Road last night by the police.
A fire service spokesman said that police had received reports of a “gas explosion” in the area and they had in turn requested fire crews to join them.
Sonic boom
Back in April 2012 a huge sonic boom was heard over Coventry and Warwickshire which was caused by two Typhoon jets.
The jets had been scrambled in response to a distress signal from a helicopter as it flew near Bath.
And in 2014 another huge bang rattled windows and woke people up, with one theory being the space-age engine of a top secret spy plane.
The mystery
While answers are still in short supply, we’ve looked at what we do know so far and what might have been to blame.
You can read that here.
What was it?
We have contacted Cadent Gas - as one of their vans was seen in the area last night - as we try to piece together what did happen.
We’ve also been in touch with the Ministry of Defence as there are some theories that it might have been a sonic boom.
We’ll let you know what we find out.
Awaiting details
We are trying to contact West Midlands Police for full details on exactly what went on last night.
Back in the morning
Still no official word from the police or fire service, so doesn’t look like we’ll get any more updates on tonight’s mystery explosion for the time being.
As a result, that’s all for now but we’ll be back with any developments on this big story at 7am.
Earthquake ruled out
According to the website earthquaketrack,com, there have been no recorded earthquakes in the UK in the past 24 hours.
Heard across city
The noise was so loud it was heard on the other side of the city, and in neighbouring towns.
The following two comments were left on our Facebook page:
Louise Walker My eldest son heard the bang and we live in Willenhall
Laura Rhiannon Mills didn’t think it was a gas pipe because people are saying they heard it in Bedworth and in Aldermans Green
Rebekah Flowers I wonder if this could have been heard in Walsgrave. I heard a big bang around that time
Adele Walsh Someone on my road said their friend in Bell Green heard it
Sonic boom?
There’s some speculation the explosion may have been a sonic boom from low-flying jets breaking the sound barrier.
This happened in Coventry a few years ago, causing a loud bang and windows to rattle.
Click here for more on the sonic boom of 2012.
Not gas - reports
Writing on our Facebook page, Adele Walsh said: “Just been informed by Cadent gas who are currently outside my house in Longford that it’s absolutely nothing to do with gas and the sub-station by the Ricoh is absolutely fine and there’s no leaks anywhere nearby. But wtf was it??”
And Dave Bunney said: “Definitely not a gas explosion. Live next to Ricoh in Longford and all is well here. Police, fire and gas have all been.
“Gas guys have just confirmed it is not a gas issue.”
Who are Cadent Gas?
A Cadent Gas van has been seen in the area.
The company, whose HQ is in Coventry, owns, operates and maintains the largest gas distribution network in the UK, transporting gas to 11 million homes and businesses across the West Midlands, North West England, East of England and North London.
Location of incident
The exact location of the incident has yet to be confirmed, but Grindle Road and Rowley’s Industrial Estate have both been mentioned in reports on social media.
First word from police
We are aware of reports of a loud noise being heard in #Longford and are working with partner agencies to establish the cause.
— Coventry Police (@Coventry_Police) December 2, 2018
Houses shook
The force of the blast shook nearby homes, according to these tweets.
@WMPolice can you advise what's happening in longford please? Heard what sounded like an explosion, house shook etc, lots of sirens and helicopters since. Reason for concern?
— we wish u a merry callum (@calkeohane) December 2, 2018
@LongfordWMP what's going on in Longford please? Window shaking bang earlier and huge services presence since then?
— we wish u a merry callum (@calkeohane) December 2, 2018
What we know so far
Reports of a loud bang or explosion first started surfacing at around 9.30pm.
People have contacted us to say the incident is centred around an industrial estate near the Ricoh Arena.
A gas sub-station in Grindle Road may have been involved.
We’re still waiting for official comments from the emergency services.
Click here for more details.
