South Ayrshire Council - News - Petrol Scare Shuts Main Road through Coylton

PETROL SCARE SHUTS MAIN ROAD THROUGH COYLTON

Trading Standards Officers from South Ayrshire Council were called to an incident in Coylton on Friday evening when a householder reported smelling petrol fumes in his house. Checks carried out by Officers indicated that there was an explosive atmosphere in the drainage system to which his house was linked.

Following this discovery the incident was reported to Strathclyde Fire and Rescue Services, Strathclyde Police and Scottish Water.

The Fire and Rescue Services and Police Services were quickly on the scene to take control of the situation. Houses sharing the same drainage system were evacuated and a nearby petrol station was closed down. Police controlled the scene by closing the A70 main road through Coylton and preventing pedestrians from accessing the scene.

Investigations into the source of the petrol vapours continued throughout Friday evening until Scottish Water arranged for the sewage line servicing the houses and the petrol site to be flushed out and taken away by road tanker.

David Thomson of South Ayrshire Trading Standards commented that, “This was a very serious situation with a significant petrol contamination of the drainage system servicing not only the houses and the petrol station but also the primary school across the main road. Through the quick action of the Fire and Rescue Services, Police, Scottish Water as well as our own officers the situation has now been stabilised.”

Mr Thomson added, “Further checks by our officers and specialist contractors carried out over the weekend appear to have identified the source of the problem and this has resulted in the re-opening of the petrol station. Our officers will continue to monitor the situation on a daily basis over the next 2 weeks to ensure that the problem has been solved.”

Petrol Scare

May 2006