A MYSTERY gas leak which brought Blackburn town centre to a standstill is estimated to have cost businesses tens of thousands of pounds in lost Christmas trade.

More than 8,000 people were evacuated during the alert and investigations by gas officials and firefighters were continuing today to identify the cause of the mystery smell.

Police were alerted to the smell by an officer who was in a town centre travel agents at about 2.40pm.

And today the cause was still baffling gas officials.

A spokeswoman for gas supply company Transco, said: "It wasn't gas-related. There is the possibility it was some kind of fuel spillage, but we really don't know where the smell came from.

"If people do smell gas we would rather they ring us so we can check it out."

A cordon was immediately thrown around the town centre with several main streets, including Ainsworth Street and Church Street, being sealed off. The Shopping Centre was closed for 80 minutes.

Traffic was diverted causing congestion in streets around the town and the police helicopter circled over the town centre with an officer warning people to clear the area. Shopping Centre manager Eammon Furlong, said: "The evacuation was very quick, but at this time of year any closure of a major shopping centre will cause difficulties for tenants.

"It is difficult to estimate the cost of that one hour 20 minutes in terms of lost trade, but it is certain to have run into tens of thousands of pounds.

"The weather didn't help - it was extremely cold for those waiting outside, but everyone was very well-mannered and appreciated that there was a possibility of a major problem."

A council spokeswoman said staff in the council's tower block were evacuated at 3.30pm. They were later allowed back to retrieve belongings and were allowed home.

Fire crews inspected premises where there was a smell of gas, but found nothing. The shopping centre reopened at 4.15pm and staff were allowed back into the town hall.

Staff in the Old Town Hall were not evacuated.

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