North-East News
Gas alert after car hits house in Consett
11:26pm Tuesday 14th February 2012
FOUR homes were evacuated tonight night after a car crashed into a house, fracturing a gas pipe, after its handbrake apparently failed.
County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service group manager John Robson said the alarm was raised when the car hit the house in Park Road, Consett, shortly before 6pm.
He said: “It is believed to have been a suspected faulty handbrake on a car.
“The car rolled down a hill into the house. There wasn’t much damage, but it took the gas pipe off the front of the house, which released gas.
“It required the gas company to come and cut the main.”
Two appliances from the Consett Fire Station and a senior officer were in attendance.
Mr Robson said eight people were evacuated from four properties on either side for about an hour.
“The couple in the house that was hit were in their 60s.
Two engines from Consett Fire Station and a senior officer attended.