AN ELDERLY Newport couple received a shock when their oven door exploded, leaving glass strewn across their kitchen.

Les and Eileen Artess, of Dos Road, cooked their dinner on Tuesday evening and had gone into the living room afterwards to watch television.

Around two hours after the oven was switched off, the couple heard a loud crack come from the kitchen and went in to see what had happened.

They found the glass from their oven door scattered across the kitchen, including some in the sink four feet away and on top of the oven.

The Parkinson Cowan cooker is seven years old and Mr Artess, 69, said it has always been well maintained.

He said: "We weren't even using the cooker at the time, where we found it, it couldn't have just fallen down, there must have been a pressure build up."

Mr Artess also said they were fortunate his wife was not in the kitchen at the time as she takes the blood thinning medication Warfarin: "If she'd have been in there and got cut, it would have been a hospital job."

A spokeswoman for Electrolux, who own Parkinson Cowan, apologised to Mr and Mrs Artess for the "distressing experience" and said incidents of this kind were unusual.

Although the product was "well outside its warranty period", she said the company would be happy to offer a repair free of charge in view of the distress caused.

The spokeswoman said toughened glass is used in the cookers, and that the problem may have been causes by chips or scratches in the glass or wiping the glass panel clean with a damp cloth whilst the door is still hot.