Community Response After 700 Evacuated Overnight In Crawley Gas Leak

In the early hours of this morning, January 6, emergency services reported a "major incident" following a significant gas leak at a large block of flats in Milton Mount Avenue, Crawley.

The problem was reported around 12.21am, and affected the flats known locally, in the Pound Hill area, as the Milton Mount Flats.

Crawley Borough Council confirmed this afternoon its staff took part in the operation that saw large numbers of residents transported to temporary accommodation around the town.

Reports said this included rooms in commercial hotels.

There have so far been no recorded injuries, officers have said.

Police described the operation as a "multi-agency response" involving several public service partners including West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service, South East Coast Ambulance Service, West Sussex County Council, Crawley Borough Council and Southern Gas.

The borough council has also confirmed that gas network provider SGN had located and repaired the leak, but that it was too early to allow residents to return.

Local authority leader Cllr. Peter Lamb said:

"This has been an unsettling time for Milton Mount residents and their families.

"They will be able to return to their homes as soon as it is safe for them to do so."

A large community response to help evacuated residents is growing in the town, with several cafes and suppliers of food offering produce at no charge while the crisis continues.

Among others, the cafe in Maidenbower Park has been preparing free meals for displaced people, which its staff say will also be transported to temporary accommodation for residents unable to travel to the park.

From the cafe, Steve Souter told More Radio about the operation to help evacuated families:

"They've basically got just the clothes they were in.

"They had to get out in minutes, so they haven't got anything with them.

"So we're doing lunchboxes for them and, if they can't get to us, we'll go down to the hotels and take what food we've got."

Crawley Borough Council has a special telephone number for residents who need questions answering: 01293 438758.

In an earlier statement to the media, before the cause was detected or repaired, Detective Chief Superintendent Steve Rayland of Sussex Police said:

“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.

“The exact cause of the gas leak is yet to be determined but not believed to be criminal, and we will provide more information as soon as we are able to.”

Resident Leah Hicklin photographed investigations late on Tuesday night, before evacuation was ordered.

UPDATED - 14.58:

Some of the 700 residents evacuated from the area are 'very unlikely' to be able to return home tonight, according to Crawley Council.

Milton Mount flats update: It's highly unlikely that residents will be able to return today due to the time required to get into all properties to check for any remaining gas.

Hotel accommodation has been secured for tonight and provisions will continue to be provided. If (1/2)

— Crawley Council (@crawleybc) January 6, 2021

Council staff are appealing for certain residents to get in touch with it as a matter of urgency. 

If you or someone you know lives at one of the following flats in Milton Mount can you ask them to call 01293 438758 as soon as possible please?

The flats numbers are:
15, 115, 215, 315, 415, 515, 615, 715
16, 116, 216, 316, 416, 516, 616, 716

Thank you

— Crawley Council (@crawleybc) January 6, 2021

This is an incident in progress, and More Radio expects to update this story as it develops.