Leicester Square: About 200 people evacuated after gas leak
- Published
About 200 people were evacuated from Leicester Square because of a ruptured gas main.
Emergency services were called to the central London site at about 07:00 GMT.
London Fire Brigade (LFB) confirmed the gas leak, which gas engineers had repaired by 14:00.
Evacuated buildings included a Premier Inn hotel. Twitter user Squaishey said they had been evacuated from the hotel in their "pyjamas bottoms & phantom killers merch".
They added: "Now gotta walk around London absolutely killing the fashion game."
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And John was worried the evacuation meant he would miss seeing West Side Story.
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A 50m cordon set up by LFB to allow Cadent Gas to repair the leak safely has now been removed.
LFB station commander Clive Robinson said about 200 people had to be evacuated from surrounding buildings because of the rupture.
A Cadent Gas spokeswoman said the leak was found in a restaurant on Cranbourn Street at about 10:00.
She said engineers had fixed the leak but safety checks and venting had to take place at 35 properties.
She added: "The report first came in from a third-party utility company working in the area this morning. The Premier Inn hotel and nearby church were evacuated as a precaution."
Initially, Bear Street, Cranbourn Street, Leicester Place and the corner of Leicester Square - including the Notre Dame church - were all closed off.
At 13:00, the Christmas market and Bear Street were reopened, as was Cranbourn Street up to the Vue cinema.
By 14:00 the remaining buildings affected were also able to reopen: Platinum Lace, APNA Adda Indian street food restaurant, Bella Italia, Church of Notre Dame, Burger King, Espresso Bar, Leicester Square Theatre, Victory House Hotel, Premier Inn, Ruby Blue and Petit Bistro.
The spokeswoman said Cadent believed the gas escape was caused by damage by a third party to a service pipe.