So, there was the 47-year-old Brit, closing in on a 6-legged intruder with a deadly spray in his hand… and the next moment he was flying through the air.

The incident occurred in Torrevieja on Calle Travesal Catral where it meets Calle Dolores just before the beach.

At first, fire-service investigators believed that the explosion had been caused by a gas leak, but it now appears that it was caused by the aerosol. The result was that Mr Daran Cooper found himself out on the street, having eliminated the cockroach, admittedly, but along with a part of the apartment, as well.

The ejected gentleman explained how he had been spraying near (perhaps ‘into’?) the washing machine, which was in the middle of a wash. There was a click inside the machine and before you could say, “excuse me, didn’t a wall used to be there,” out flew Mr Cooper, landing five metres further down the street.

He was lucky, considering the devastation, because he came away from it with only a broken wrist, bruising and a head wound – we have no record of what injuries the cockroach sustained.

The other person in the apartment, Mr Cooper’s girlfriend, was unhurt as she was in another room.

(News: Torrevieja, Alicante, Spain)