Residents evacuated when car crashes into gas sub-station on Whitworth Road

The scene on Whitworth Road after the crash.

A car crashed into a gas sub-station on Whitworth Road last night (Thursday 14 April) causing a gas leak which forced local residents to be evacuated.

The vehicle ruptured a large gas pipe at around 10.30pm last night.

A 200 metre cordon was placed around the sub-station which was located close to the Albion Inn pub.

The council opened the town hall as a rest centre for residents.

Residents were permitted to return to their homes early this morning and the road was reopened.

A spokesperson for National Grid said: “We made the leak safe last night and our engineers are on site today to implement a permanent repair. The gas supply to properties in the area has been unaffected during this incident.”

No one is believed to have been seriously injured and no arrests have been made.