Clouds of gas escape following mains leak in village near Leamington

The large gas leak occurred close to the Wedding Barn on Ashgrove Farm, Leamington Road, in Ufton on August 28 - and it took engineers from early morning until dusk to investigate and resolve the problem.

Richard Scrivens, who owns a farm and the land surrounding the leak in Ridgeway Lane, alerted the Courier to the problem. He had had to evacuate some of the horses that graze on his land.

He said: “At about 7.30am, I heard a deafening roar of escaping gas.

“A neighbouring farmer was working on his land. I went to investigate, but I could not see any farm machinery. I could still hear the noise.

“I then saw that it was rushing gas coming from a defective gas main. I could see the gas coming out in clouds.”

Mr Scrivens called the gas board, which immediately sent engineers to the village and closed Ridgeway Lane to traffic for the day. Mr Scrivens said he suspected that the leak was caused by pressure building up in a valve underground which then burst the valve and allowed the gas to escape. The gas main which leaked is the main supplier of gas to Ufton and Harbury.

He added: “The road closure closed off access to my farm and to Wood Farm, where there are several holiday cottages and barns converted into commercial buildings. It would have had a serious effect on the businesses there because no one could get in or out.”

A spokeswoman for National Grid confirmed that engineers attended the scene and completed the repair work at 7.30pm. She said: “The escape was caused by a break in the joint on the main. The road was reopened at 10pm.

“Fortunately the road leads only to a farm and an small industrial unit and most of the vehicles were able to get around the roadworks.”

She said that there were no dangers to the public posed by the leak.