Shropshire Star

Gas leak in Oswestry after restaurant blaze

Part of Oswestry was cordoned off after a gas leak was discovered at a restaurant which had been seriously damaged by fire the previous evening.

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The area around Brooks Around the Corner, on the corner of Church Street and Lower Brook Street, was cordoned off at 9.30am today after fire crews discovered the leak.

Police blocked off all four roads around the restaurant for three hours while gas engineers were called out to find the source of the leak and seal it off.

Fire fighters from Oswestry had been checking the building for hotspots earlier in the morning as a follow-up to the blaze on Wednesday evening.

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Incident manager Tim Davidson from Oswestry fire station said: "We were carrying out a re-inspection of hot spots but during that we found there was a potential gas leak, at which point we asked for the gas company to attend. They discovered there was a slight leak coming from the main gas supply pipe.

"As a precaution we set up a 200m cordon and evacuated about 15 premises with the assistance of police.

"We will remain in attendance to assist the fire investigation."

The cordon was reduced at 11am but the area immediately around the restaurant remained closed off until the afternoon.

Sergeant Scott Barnes, from Oswestry Police, said: "The cordon was just a precautionary measure due to Wednesday night's fire."

Staff from Brooks were not allowed to re-enter the property until a structural engineer had carried out an inspection to ensure that the building was safe.

But fire crews retrieved equipment from the kitchens for restaurant owner Matt Newton so that he could prepare food for the school meals service run by the business.

Mr Newton said: "Wednesday night when we were all standing on the street the Wynnstay Hotel approached us and said anything they could do to help they would. I said a kitchen would be useful, not expecting anything to come of it, and they said yes straight away.

"We prepared 180 meals for children at West Felton Primary School and prep care nursery, Little Acorns Nursery and Footsteps Nursery. Without the Wynnstay's help we wouldn't have been able to do that."

The fire is believed to have started in a tumble drier in the basement of the restaurant at about 7pm on Wednesday and spread to the main floor.

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