A furniture shop boss accused of blowing up his business and injuring 81 people in the process will have to wait to learn his fate.

A jury failed to reach verdicts on charges of insurance fraud and causing the blast following a four-week trial which ended last week.

Pascal Blasio, 57, now of William Street, Rainham, denied deliberately destroying Homes In Style, in the Wirral, in March 2017 in an attempt to claim on his insurance.

The "almost apocalyptic" explosion destroyed or damaged 63 properties and, said the prosecution at Liverpool Crown Court, it was "sheer luck" no one was killed.

They'll now seek a retrial, provisionally set for September 23. Blasio was released on bail.