Sandside gas leak: 30 residents evacuated after car crashes into pub (From The Westmorland Gazette)
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Sandside gas leak: 30 residents evacuated after car crashes into pub
10:46am Saturday 10th November 2012 in News
By Steven Bell, Senior Reporter
THIRTY residents were evacuated from their homes in Sandside overnight after a car crashed into a pub and fractured a gas main.
A 47-year-old local man was arrested on suspicion of drink-driving after a green Honda Accord hit the Ship Inn at about 2.36am.
Police, fire and ambulance crews attended the collision, which caused a large amount of gas to leak into the air and prompted fears of an explosion.
Police placed a 400-metre cordon around the scene and closed the B5282 between Milnthorpe and Arnside.
Officers evacuated people in nearby homes - many of them elderly - to a reception centre at Sandside Village Hall where they were able to stay warm and make hot drinks.
An engineer from gas company Transco also attended, along with a representative from South Lakeland District Council’s emergency planning team.
The gas leak was capped at about 7am, when the road was re-opened and residents allowed to return to their homes.
Nobody was hurt in the incident and the alleged drink-driver is due to be questioned at Kendal Police Station today.
