Supermarket in Telford town centre evacuated after suspected gas leak - fire crews and police on the scene
Several fire crews have rushed to respond to a suspected gas leak at a supermarket on a busy Telford retail park.
The Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) said it was alerted to an incident at the Forge Retail Park in central Telford at 4.18pm on Thursday (June 19).
Five fire crews were sent to the scene from Telford Central, Wellington, Albrighton, Shrewsbury and Tweedale stations. The fire service said that operations, hazmat and safety officers have also attended.
West Mercia Police has also attended the scene, centred on a Sainsbury's supermarket which has been evacuated and cordoned off.
SFRS incident commander Craig Jackson said crews were initially called to reports of a fire at the Sainsbury's building.
He told the Shropshire Star: "We were alerted to a potential building fire at Sainsbury's. Crews arrived and they carried out investigations, and then they called for more appliances because there was a potential for smoke and a fire on the roof.
"When they've carried out further investigations, it's looking like a refrigeration unit is gassing up and leaking. So we've got a gas leak on the roof: refrigeration gas.
"We've isolated that and we're working with Sainsbury's now, with an engineer to look at making sure that it is safe."
He said the building would be tested for any remaining gas before the cordon is removed.
"We haven't located a fire on the roof and the alarms are looking like it's gas on the roof. We've got our drone team here at the moment, just carrying out a check of the roof, just to make sure there was no fire prior to the leak on the roof.
"We've been working closely with the police as well to help manage the traffic on the industrial estate. There are priorities - in this heat it's making sure that everyone's hydrated, including our crews.
"Sainsbury's staff will need to go back in and check the products, make sure it's safe to open the store."
