HOMES were evacuated and a busy main road closed following a major gas leak in Darwen today.
A main pipe was struck at the junction of Hollins Grove Street and Blackburn Road at 9.30am by contractors who are replacing sewers.
A section of the A666 was cordoned off from the M65 junction at Cravens Brow.
Three fire engines and the incident support unit were put on stand-by during the operation.
Inspector Stuart Coates of Darwen Police said: "We evacuated homes in the immediate area as a precaution. A virtual gridlock was caused, mainly because the heavy goods vehicles were unable to negotiate the narrow streets along the diversion we had to set up."
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