Nearly 700 people evacuate flats after gas leak in Crawley: Almost 700 people were told to evacuate their flats in Crawley, West Sussex, this morning after a ‘major incident’ concerning a gas leak.

It was just a little before 12.30am when emergency services accepted accounts of a gas leak located at a private high rise block of flats on Milton Mount Avenue, Pound Hill in Crawley.

Reports from Southern Gas Network showed that a critical leak of natural gas had happened.

Sussex Police & other emergency services showed up at the scene. Crawley Borough Council determined to announce a ‘local authority major incident’.

In a shared announcement, West Sussex County Council (WSCC) & West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service stated: “Staff worked together to manage the safe evacuation of around 700 residents from the building. Residents were supported by staff from WSCC’s Adults Services team to ensure all welfare needs were met.

“A multi-agency approach has been developed to support the temporary relocation of affected residents, this includes the transportation of residents to temporary accommodation whilst maintaining Covid-19 precautions.”

Detective Chief Superintendent Steve Rayland added: “This is an ongoing incident which has caused huge disruption to hundreds of people on a cold January morning, and I’d like to thank everyone for their patience and understanding as we continue to work with our partners to minimise the ongoing disruption.

“We are working hard to ensure this is dealt with as soon as possible to enable everyone to return home, however, this may take several hours yet. In the meantime, we are urging everyone to stay away from the area to allow the responding agencies to focus on resolving the incident to allow residents to return home.”

Sussex Police said the precise reason for the gas leak is yet to be resolved but is not understood to be criminal.

Nearly 700 people evacuate flats after gas leak in Crawley