Residents allowed home after gas leak evacuation

10 hours ago

Helen Burchell

News image — People were asked to leave their homes as a precaution, the fire service said

Essex Fire and Rescue Service Firefighters and a Cadent gas van can be seen on a street. There are traffic cones on the road. — People were asked to leave their homes as a precaution, the fire service said

About 45 people asked to leave their homes due to a gas leak have been allowed to return.

Billericay Fire Station posted on Facebook at about 16:25 BST on Monday to say it was dealing with an incident in Southend Road, in Great Burstead, Essex.

Station manager Mat Bannon said at the time: "About 45 residents have been evacuated as a precaution and we would like to thank them for their patience."

Cadent, the local gas emergency service, confirmed on Tuesday that residents were allowed to return home at about 20:30 and repairs were completed at 22:30.

A Cadent spokesperson said the company was called to "a report of a damaged gas pipe at 14:43 yesterday".

"Soon afterwards our emergency engineers arrived on site and were able to confirm a gas pipe had been damaged by contractors on a development site on Southend Road," they added.

They said no-one was injured and gas supplies were not interrupted.

They continued: "Our teams worked with the other emergency services on site, and they were able to safely stop the gas escaping and complete the repair by 22:30."

Writing on Facebook, Basildon Borough Council thanked the fire service, Cadent and residents for their help and patience.