THE landlady of The King of Prussia in Bovey Tracey cheated death by inches after being involved in a horrific gas explosion. Kathryn Neville, 42, was running a bath in the pub's living quarters on Tuesday morning when leaking gas from a calor gas stove exploded, ripping through their upstairs flat. The pyjamas she was wearing caught fire but, in a flash of good fortune, the blast blew her off her feet and into the half-filled bath. She was treated by ambulance staff at the scene for shock and minor burns to her feet, legs and arms. Pub landlord Andy Paddon said: 'She is lucky to be alive. If the bathroom door had been shut she would certainly have been killed.' He said she was still feeling shocked and did not really remember what had happened. 'It's all a bit of a blur. She has gone to stay with family for a few days.' Assistant divisional fire officer Tony Haywood agreed she had had a narrow escape. 'The gas cloud ignited and the vapour explosion used up all the fuel, so there wasn't enough energy to start a fire.' Mr Paddon was out at the time. The first he heard of it was a call on his mobile. He rushed back to find police, fire and ambulance at the scene. Fore Street was closed and traffic diverted while firefighters from Bovey Tracey and Moretonhampstead made the building safe. The force of the blast knocked out a bedroom window, brought down a section of ceiling and caused cracks to appear in the upstairs hallway. A corrugated plastic sheet outside the bathroom was melted and a stereo and other furniture in one of the bedrooms were thrown across the room. Miraculously, 10-week old terrier pup Millie, who was in there at the time, was unharmed. Mr Paddon and Ms Neville only took over the Heavitree pub last month. Shortly after they moved in they had a fire in one of the chimneys and the fire service had to be called. Mr Paddon said that fire service condemned the chimney and told them not to use it until it had been repaired. 'The brewery promised us central heating. As we had no heating we had to use calor gas fires. They've been good in that they offered us to go to a hotel, but we just want to get back to normal.' He said that after the accident, Heavitree was looking to get central heating in as soon as possible.