Gas leak false alarm disrupts port and traffic

A gas leak false alarm has disrupted a port and caused gridlock across a city centre.

ABP, which runs Southampton Port, apologised for earlier disruption caused by the reported leak near Ocean Cruise Terminal.

Passengers struggled in heavy traffic to reach the Cunard ship Queen Anne, whose departure has been delayed from 16:00 to 20:30 BST.

Gas supplier SGN said there was no mains gas supply in the area around dock gates 4 and 5.

It added: "There was a call for a smell of gas that resulted in a brief evacuation of the gates, but it was soon discovered to be a false alarm and the gates were reopened shortly after.

"There is no gas mains connection near there on our network."

Earlier, long traffic queues built up on main roads around the terminal, including West Quay Road and the Itchen Bridge.

ABP said port operations and cruise embarkation were disrupted for a short period of time.

A spokesperson said: "We apologise for the inconvenience this has caused and thank everyone for their patience."

Southampton City Council said it was informed shortly before 14:00 that the issue had been resolved.

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