British police investigating the Ealing bombing were today lifting the cordon which has surrounded the blast site to allow business owners to inspect their damaged properties.
Anti-terrorist officers concluded their fingertip search of the area last night and safety checks to the bomb-hit buildings were being made today before the public were allowed access.
For the many business owners whose shops have been devastated by the bombing, today will mark the first step towards a return to normality.
A tight cordon had been kept around the scene of the blast since the early hours of Friday morning when a car bomb went off near pubs and bars in the bustling Ealing Broadway area of west London.
Two victims of the blast remain in hospital, 10 residents are staying in hotels and up to 50 properties are still without electricity.
Council officials said surveyors needed to check buildings, cables and pipes at the scene but added that initial assessments had not found any buildings which needed to be demolished because of structural damage.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said forensic scientists decided last night that they had gathered all the information they needed from the scene.
He said the cordon would be lifted later today and the road through Ealing Broadway would reopen.
He added a small area would remain cordoned off around where the bomb itself exploded.
PA