A RESTAURANT owner risked his life to make sure residents were safe following an explosion in Alloa.

Garry Singh, who owns the popular Alba Restaurant, witnessed the blast that took place on Kellie Place and rushed out to see if he could help.

Initially suspecting it had been a bad car accident, Garry was horrified to see that the upper levels of the property had exploded.

He spoke with the Advertiser to share his first thoughts of when he heard the bang, which took place less than 100 feet from his restaurant.

He said: “I was working in the restaurant and the last thing we expected was a big bang.

“It was like nothing I’ve ever heard before, like something out of the movies.

“The building actually shook so my initial reaction was that somebody had crashed into the side of the building.

“When I came out, there was no car but I saw the damage to the building and the smoke coming out of the building.”

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Garry went on to explain that he had a former employee who lived in the flats with two young children.

Instinctively, he rushed over to the property to help any neighbouring residents to escape their homes.

“My initial reaction was to go over,” Garry went on. “We had an ex-employee who stays in those flats and I know he has two young children.

“My reaction was to go over and see what I could do to help as being one of the first ones on the scene.

“Me and a gentleman who was dining with us did go over and we chapped the neighbouring doors of the flats to get everyone out.

“Within two, three minutes, the police and fire brigade arrived and they were just fantastic and at that point, we stepped back and let them do their job.”

READ MORE: Resident left "completely shaken" by explosion

With first responders and emergency services on the scene, Garry went back into the restaurant and closed for the evening.

With Police Scotland eventually closing the road around his restaurant, he called all his evening bookings to confirm they had had to cancel.

The Alba owner hailed the spirit of the community for being so understanding in a time of crisis for the town.

He added: “The most we could do as a community was we closed the restaurant at that point and everyone was more than understanding.

“We closed at around half 6 as they shut the whole road and there was no way that I wanted to interfere with the ongoing investigation.

“An incident as big as that, I just thought it was best to close at 6pm yesterday and let the first responders do their work essentially.”

Nearby residents were taken to Alloa Town Hall, with accommodation offered to them if they didn’t have a place to stay.

Clackmannanshire Council confirmed that all residents had managed to find family or friends to stay with and the Town Hall has now been closed.

Garry is opening the doors to his restaurant for any affected Kellie Place residents who need a place to go to.

He said: “With the incident being next to us, I wanted to say that if the residents wanted to come in for a meal, someone to chat to or a wee drink, they’re more than welcome to come to Alba.

“We’re more than happy to take people in and comfort them in this time of need.”