Road Closed After Gas Leak

THE A418 road, between and Shabbington, was closed yesterday following a serious gas leak.
The incident began when water contractors were excavating to find their pipes along the stretch of the road where a cycle path is currently being built. During that operation, the contractors noticed a corosion hole in a main gas pipe and immediately Southern Gas was called to deal with the problem.
Workers in the near by offices of North Weston farm were evacuated for safety reasons and bowysers had to be called in to fill a header tank that feeds animal water troughs before it ran dry and caused air locks in the system. Local residents reported a very strong smell of gas and one farm worker reported feeling ill after working for several hours in and out of the farm.
The road was completely closed to traffic between 5pm yesterday, (Tuesday) and 4am this morning, and today, Southern Gas say repairs have been carried out and the area is now safe.
At the time of this report, some residents in the area were still without mains water.