As residents of Hemel Hempstead were woken by the biggest peacetime blast in Europe since World War Two, they turned to their local paper for news and information.

Like other residents, Gazette and HeraldExpress news editor Ann Traynor was woken by an enormous blast at just after 6am on Sunday.

And she was soon in the newsroom rounding up every member of staff she could find.

Photographers from the two papers - published on a Wednesday and Thursday - were quickly at the scene at the Buncefield depot, and managed to grab close-up photographs before the area was evacuated by the emergency services.

And as reporters were dispatched, the papers' website hemelhempsteadtoday.co.uk, became the first choice for local news, as well as posting useful telephone numbers for anybody affected by the blast or those worried about relatives.

Ann told HoldtheFrontPage: "I live locally and was woken by an enormous crash which, in my initially sleepy state, I thought was thunder.

"My brother, who lives on the other side of London in Wimbledon, phoned to ask if we were all okay, and I threw some clothes on and went to the office."

Many readers have sent in their own personal stories and photographs via the website, and Wednesday's edition of the broadsheet Gazette looks set to double its news pages to 40 with news, pictures, background and a history of the depot put together from the paper's archives.

The HeraldExpress will follow on Thursday with more pictures and the very latest news.

Ann said: "We've had other major stories in the past, but this is the most important we have ever covered in terms of impact.

"The readers have been marvellous and there has been a constant flow of e-mails and phone calls.

"We've also had a lot of phone calls from concerned readers, including one from a man with severe asthma worried that the direction of the wind had changed.

"One of the most frightening things for me during my 13 hour shift on Sunday was seeing a picture of my previous home, where I had lived for 20 years and moved from only a few months ago, which is on a road near the oil depot and had its windows and doors blown out.

"It was bizarre to see my former home in that state."