Residents in parts of Moat Road in East Grinstead were evacuated from their properties just overnight after reports of a strong smell of gas in the area.

Emergency gas engineers attended along with West Sussex fire Service and Sussex Police.

The council arranged for the local Kings Centre to be opened up for residents to keep warm while engineers located the gas leak and made a repair.

West Sussex fire said “We are currently dealing with a mains gas leak in the Moat Road area of East Grinstead & have been working with Sussex police to evacuate residents. Crews from Turners Hill East Grinstead FireRescue & Forest Row are attending. Engineers from SGN gas are on scene fixing the leak.”

At 2am they updated with “Repairs are making good progress. We are now working to help residents return to their homes following the earlier evacuation. A strong smell of gas remains so please keep windows and doors closed.”