A car crashing into a gas pipe in Coatbridge resulted in a major emergency response on Wednesday morning.
Emergency services rushed to the scene to enforce an exclusion zone at Palacecraig Street in Kirkshaws just before 6.30am.
The no-go zone was in place for nearly four hours as emergency services responded, with nearby businesses temporarily evacuated.
Pupils and families accessing the nearby schools campus were also advised not to use one of its entrances as emergency services worked at the scene.
Three fire crews were sent to the Coatbridge location after emergency calls were received – with police confirming that the safety cordon had been set up following reports of the vehicle crash.
Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) officials told Lanarkshire Live : “We were alerted at 6.26am on Wednesday to a suspected gas leak on Palacecraig Street, Coatbridge.
“Operations control mobilised three appliances to the scene, where crews remain in attendance to assist in making the area safe.”
The SFRS told how “nearby commercial properties had been evacuated,” but police then stated that staff and customers at affected businesses had been able to return to their premises by 10.30am.
A Police Scotland spokeswoman told us : “Officers were called to Palacecraig Street at around 6.40am on Wednesday following a reports of a car crashing into a gas pipe. There were no reported injuries.
“Emergency services attended and an exclusion zone was put in place.
“The area was made safe and the cordons have been removed. Those evacuated have been able to return.”
Gas distribution company SGN confirmed they had attended the Coatbridge incident “at the request of the emergency services following reports of a vehicle striking a property.”
Spokesperson Bradley Barlow told Lanarkshire Live: “We carried out safety checks, made the site safe and left shortly after. The emergency services lifted their exclusion zone and roads have reopened.”
One source close to the scene told Lanarkshire Live: “We were contacted early this morning by police advising of the leak in Palacecraig Street - about 20 to 30 businesses in the area will have been affected.
“We were then contacted around 9.50am to advise that the area was safe and we were clear to trade again, and opened up to the public at 10.30am.”
Coatbridge South councillor Tracy Carragher had seen the cordon in place as she headed from her ward to meetings at the Civic Centre.
She said: “SGN were on site and isolated the pipeline which they did quickly; they were able to deal with it and there was never any danger to the surrounding area.
“The exclusion zone was in place as a precaution; I’d seen the cordon in place off Kirkshaws Road to stop people turning off into the industrial estate earlier in the morning.”
Also within the exclusion zone was a rear entrance to the school and community campus housing St Andrew’s High and St Timothy’s Primary.
Families of secondary pupils received text alerts advising youngsters arriving for classes this morning to use the main front entrance to the grounds on Old Monkland Road, with the back gate having been closed as a precaution by police during the incident.
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