A total of 25 premises in Church Street were evacuated.

The gas leak followed an earlier incident on the same street when an underground electricity cable caught fire causing a power cut. Up to 1,200 Scottish Power customers were affected by the cut.

The street was reopened to pedestrians by 6pm but remained closed to traffic this morning as repairs were made to the road. Shop owners were today counting the cost.

Joanne McMurray, from Church Street Pharmacy who raised the alarm, said: “We are now having to get two days’ medication out in just a day. All the staff are in to catch up.”

A spokeswoman for Wales and West Utilities said: “We were alerted to a gas leak on Church Street, Oswestry at approximately 10.10am.

“We immediately dispatched a team to investigate the leak and by the time we arrived on site twenty five properties had been evacuated by the police and fire services for safety reasons.

“The leak occurred after a faulty electricity cable burned through a gas supply pipe feeding one of the businesses on Church Street.”

She added that people were allowed back in their premises between 4.30pm and 5pm. A spokeswoman for the Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service said they attended Church Street just before 10.30am following reports of a gas leak.

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