RESIDENTS in a North Yorkshire town have been allowed to return to their homes this afternoon after a gas leak led to them being evacuated.
People in the Long Street area of Thirsk were initially advised to stay indoors while the leak was dealt with earlier this afternoon, but police later said they would evacuate those living within a 50m cordon.
Thirsk and Sowerby Children's Centre, on Hambleton Place, was set up as an evacuation centre while the fault was fixed, with firefighters and gas engineers being called in and Long Street being closed. North Yorkshire Police has now said on its twitter feed that the leak has been repaired, with the road being reopened and the cordon lifted.
About 50 homes had to be evacuated. North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service said hot ashes left in a wheelie bin outside a house on Long Street had caused the bin to catch fire, but the heat had ruptured the main gas supply to the building.
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