Telford’s Trench Lock in gas leak scare

Thursday 17th February 2011, 3:13PM GMT.

Police at the scene of the gas leak in Telford

Homes and businesses were evacuated and roads closed today after a big gas leak on a building site in Telford. A police cordon was put in place and traffic diverted away from the area.

Hundreds of people were asked to leave premises in the Trench Lock area after workers on Bloor Homes’ Sommerfields housing development broke a gas main.

Police set up a 750m cordon around the site at about 8.30am – closing all businesses, evacuating homes and shutting roads.

The incident caused major traffic congestion around the Trench Lock junction as emergency services diverted traffic away from the scene. The cordon was removed at 10.30am.

A spokesman for Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said: “Hundreds were evacuated. A 750m evacuation zone was put in by police on the recommendations of the gas board.

“The Blockleys works had to be evacuated, the whole factory and the offices, all the building works, some homes and small businesses.”

Chris Ammonds, spokesman for Telford police, said various roads were closed, including Trench Lock and the A442.

Jane Taylor, from National Grid, said they had a call at 8.15am to say a digger working on the housing development had hit a gas main.

Enterprise Car Centre was one of the businesses evacuated but manager Richard Teed said despite the cordon being removed after two hours, they were told the area could be closed off for up to 24 hours.

He added: “We weren’t told anything. We had to walk over to the petrol station and ask the police if we were okay to reopen.”

View more: Telford news.