Emergency engineers from Northern Gas Networks (NGN) have been working through the night to repair a gas escape outside the Gates Shopping Centre in Durham following reports of a smell of gas yesterday (11 January).

NGN evacuated the shopping mall as a safety precaution yesterday.

The gas escape is now under control and engineers have advised that it is safe to reopen the Gates Shopping Centre today (12 January).

John Richardson, customer operations area manager at Northern Gas Networks said: “The safety of members of public is our number one priority.  Our team of highly skilled engineers worked throughout the night to repair the gas main and identified the source of the leak at around 9.00pm yesterday evening.

“We have now repaired the pipe but will continue to have a presence on site while we monitor the situation. We’d like to apologise to customers and retailers for the inconvenience caused and thank everyone for their patience.”

Anyone that smells gas or suspects Carbon Monoxide should call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999. This line is in operation 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.