Fifty properties evacuated for eight hours as gas leak causes traffic chaos

Dozens of families have returned to their homes after a gas leak in Stoke Newington yesterday afternoon (Thursday).

Fifty flats and houses were evacuated surrounding a shop in Green Lanes where a leak had occurred shortly before 1pm.

Around ten firefighters from Stoke Newington and other Hackney stations attended the scene and set up a temporary exclusion zone at the junction with Burma Road, evacuating residents from their homes nearby and closing roads.

And they were still at the scene eight hours later as gas workers tried to seal the leak.

A spokesman for National Grid said the leak was caused by a fault with an electrical cable that had damaged a gas mains.

Families were able to return to their homes by 9pm although many were without electricity.

Were you caught up on the incident? Email hg.editorial@archant.co.uk.