Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Eleanor Noyce

‘Unpleasant smell’ at bank leaves man hospitalised and nine others ill

Google/screengrab

A man has been hospitalised after several customers fell ill following reports of an “unpleasant smell” at a bank in Warwickshire.

The Nuneaton branch of Santander in Nuneaton was closed just after midday on Tuesday following the reports, with three ambulances and West Midlands Ambulance Service’s Hazardous Area Response Team attending the scene.

“Numerous” people reported feeling unwell after reports of a hazardous substance, with nine other patients assessed and discharged alongside the hospitalised man following the “potential safety issue”.

The Nuneaton branch of Santander was closed just after midday on Tuesday
— (Google/screengrab)

Fire crews attended the scene to help ventilate the branch after staff reported the “presence of hazardous gas and an unpleasant smell throughout” the building. Nuneaton and Bedworth Police cordoned off a stretch of the street while officers responded to the incident.

“Crews arrived to find ten patients complaining of feeling unwell”, a statement from a West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesperson read.

“One of them, a man, was assessed and treated at the scene before being taken to George Eliot Hospital in a stable condition.

“The remaining nine patients, six women and three men, were assessed and discharged at the scene.”

"During routine works at our Nuneaton branch earlier today a potential safety issue was detected and as a precaution, the branch was closed”, a Santander spokesperson told the BBC.

"We are sorry for any inconvenience this causes our customers."

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.