Gas workers searching for source of bad smell in Bridgnorth

Staff at Bridgnorth Cliff Railway arrived at work last Thursday to be met by a pungent stench emanating from the ground.

Engineers quickly arrived to help ventilate the area and excavate in search of the leak so they could repair it.

But after digging down inside the Low Town station, they found nothing.

They also dug just outside the station and outside Knickerbockers ice cream parlour in Cartway, but are still yet to locate the source of the smell.

Karl Braden, general manager of the cliff railway, said: “The bottom station was full of gas when we came in on Thursday. There was a real pungent smell. It was coming through some electrical ducting and into our premises.

“The engineers have excavated a hole outside the cliff railway and another one across the road. Now they’ve dug another one outside the ice cream parlour and they still haven’t found it. They can’t seem to find out where it’s coming from. They said it could be 300 yards up the road.

“It’s like potholing here at the minute.”

The Cliff Railway and local businesses remain open as usual.

Mr Braden added: "Fortunately for us, we got all the doors and windows open and it ventilated everything. The gas seems to have travelled elsewhere.

“To give them credit, the engineers were out to us within 40 minutes, and they left someone on site with us for the whole time before it was cleared. It’s the last thing we need really, given how quiet the cliff railway is at the moment.”

Sara Wilcox, a spokeswoman for Cadent, said engineers are working to pinpoint the exact source of the leak.

"In some cases, like this one, tracing the leak on an underground pipe can prove tricky and takes time but we will continue to track it down and repair it," she added.