A man is to be charged in connection with an explosion which seriously injured three contractors at a unit by the new Chester Market in March 2023.

The Crown Prosecution Service has given Cheshire Police and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) authority to charge a man in relation to an explosion at a restaurant in Chester.

Mark Blackburn is to be charged with arson with recklessness as to whether life was endangered.

He is also to be charged with breaching the following regulations from the Health and Safety Act:

  • Section 3(2) of Health and Safety at Work Etc Act 1974
  • Regulation 5(3) Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998
  • Regulation 6(1) Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998
  • Regulation 23(1) Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998

The 39-year-old, of Wakefield Road, Ossett, is to appear at Chester Magistrates Court on Friday, October 18.

The charges follow a joint investigation between Cheshire Police and HSE into an explosion at the Turtle Bay unit that was being fitted out as part of the Chester Northgate Development, next to the new Chester Market, on Wednesday, March 29, 2023.

Three contractors were seriously injured following the explosion, which left the market and adjacent car park closed.

Work ultimately resumed at the Turtle Bay site and the restaurant is planned to open this October.