Primary school evacuated with hundreds of children removed after gas alert

Hundreds of school pupils were forced to leave when a school was evacuated on Tuesday after emergency gas repairs had to be carried in Prestonpans.

Children attending St Gabriel’s Primary School and nursery were moved as a precaution to the local church hall, with residents in a number of houses also alerted to the incident.

East Lothian Council said SGN had advised them to move the children out of the school as they carried out repairs on South Grange Avenue in the town.

The school, which has more than 230 pupils on its rolls, remains closed for the rest of the day and parents and carers have been asked to collect youngsters from the hall.

A council spokesperson said: “School staff supported children to move in line with our planned emergency protocols and to settle in the space, which is familiar to them.

“School staff will remain with children for the rest of the day to care for any who cannot be collected. All children are safe and supported.

“SGN has informed us that two neighbouring properties have also been evacuated. The company is dealing directly with the householders affected.

“An emergency road closure has been put in place on South Grange Avenue between Grange Grove and Grange Crescent East. Our roads team is aware and assisting SGN with its traffic management.

“We continue to be in contact with SGN on the incident, likely timescales for repair and any support required and we will provide further information, including on timescales for school’s reopening, as soon as we can.”

A spokesperson for SGN said: “We’re carrying out urgent repairs to our gas network in South Grange Avenue, Prestonpans after a smell of gas was reported this morning.

“Our engineers are carrying out investigations in the area, and we’ve evacuated some properties, including St Gabriel’s primary school and nursery, to ensure everyone’s safety. The school moved pupils to St Gabriel’s RC Church Hall before contacting parents and carers to collect children from there.

“We’ve also partially closed South Grange Avenue to motorists around our site and local diversions are in place between Grange Road and Grange Grove, to allow us to safely locate the gas escape and repair the affected pipe.

“It’s too early to suggest how long the repair will take to complete, and when it might be safe for people to reoccupy the evacuated properties. We’re constantly monitoring the situation and working hard to identify the source of the leak and carry out the required repairs as soon as we can.”