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Drug lab bin blast 'like bomb'

Westminster residents woken by the sound of an explosion in the skip bin. Picture: Lincoln Baker.

Residents on a Westminster street say they thought their homes were under attack yesterday when equipment and chemicals used to make illicit drugs were dumped and exploded in a skip bin.

Flames up to 3m high erupted from the skip bin located outside a building site on Rotherfield Road about 4am today.

Steve Pitsakis said he thought a bomb had gone off, as his nearby unit shook from the fire.

“I jumped off the bed and I looked and I thought (a car) went into a house,” he said.

Mr Pitsakis immediately thought a tradesman might have left a flammable liquid in the bin and was shocked to discover the sinister reason behind the fire.

He was quick to call firefighters who, along with police officers found suspicious items in the bin.

Odile Bijoux said she too was woken by the very loud noise of the explosion.

“I thought something had exploded in my lounge…I couldn’t imagine what caused it,” she said.

Organised crime squad investigators called to the scene confirmed the items belonged to a clandestine drug laboratory.

The items dumped in the bin included chemicals and containers that were venting poisonous gases.

Det-Sgt Grant Barber asked for anyone who saw any suspicious behaviour in the area at the time to report it to police.

“Clandestine drug cooks have no regard for the community and this fire shows how discarded items can still be dangerous,” he said.

“The loud bang could be heard streets away.”

Police have uncovered 78 clandestine drug laboratories so far this year, which is well below last year’s total.