RESIDENTS of 30 houses were evacuated in the early hours yesterday because of a major gas leak in Rochdale Road, Todmorden.

People were taken to the homes of family and friends with about 20 spending the rest of the night at Todmorden fire station.

A spokesman for Transco, the gas pipeline operators, said the leak occurred at the side of the road near the site of the new Safeway supermarket.

Men had been working in the area where an eight inch connection main failed, allowing gas to escape.

For safety reasons police evacuated thirty nearby properties at 3am yesterday.

They were all allowed home at about 9am after repairs had been completed.

Police set up traffic diversions because of the closure of one of the main roads in and out of the town.

The spokesman for Transco said about a dozen engineers had been involved in carrying out repairs to the damaged mains pipe.

Despite the ruptured mains, a gas supply had been maintained to all houses.

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