Emergency engineers from Northern Gas Networks (NGN) attended the Gates Shopping Centre in Durham at 9.55 this morning following reports of a smell of gas outside the building.

NGN has evacuated the shopping mall as a safety precaution and is carrying out work to identify the source of the gas escape.

John Richardson, customer operations area manager at Northern Gas Networks said: “The safety of members of public is our number one priority and we have evacuated the Gates shopping centre as a safety precaution.

“We’d like to apologise to customers 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.