Cumbernauld families evacuated

FAMILIES were evacuated from their homes amidst fears of a gas explosion

The alarm was raised around 5.45pm on Sunday when a resident telephoned the emergency services after smelling gas in Whitelees Road. Abronhill.

Staff from Scottish Power were alerted and a partial evacuation of the area got underway.

Power was immediately switched off from some 300 houses.

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Fears that locals would have to be moved into temporary accommodation overnight were, however, unfounded as power was restored some two hours later, allowing people to return to their homes.

A spokesperson for Scottish Power said that the evacuation was a necessity for safety reasons.

She added: ''When our engineers arrived we found a standard cable fault.

"On realising that the fuse was gone, we were slightly worried that this might affect a gas pipe nearby.

"The evacuation then got underway as a precaution."

Cumbernauld Fire Station commander John Lubanski said: ''We were chiefly involved in cordoning off the affected area."

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