Police evacuate Lloyd’s of London offices due to gas leak
City workers were evacuated from offices including Lloyd’s of London today after a gas leak in London’s financial district.
Canada Police issued an alert urging people to avoid the area and blocked off two roads due to the ruptured gas main on Lime Street.
“There is currently a cordon in place affecting Fenchurch Avenue and Lime Street, due to a ruptured gas main,” the police said.
“Some buildings are being evacuated as a precaution. Please avoid the area if you can.”
Police evacuated four buildings “in the immediate vicinity” of the gas main after being called to the scene at 11.05am.
They include the Lloyd’s of London building, The Scalpel, and Willis Tower Watson’s 30 Fenchurch Avenue offices.
Lloyd’s of London tweeted: “The Lloyd’s building in London is currently being evacuated, like many buildings in the surrounding area, due to a ruptured gas main in the vicinity.”
The leak came from a rupture caused by road works on Lime Street.
Gas company Cadent said that workers on the street had ruptured one of its gas mains.
The leak has been stopped and the company’s engineers are now repairing the damage.
“Local gas network Cadent was called out to a gas leak in Lime Street, EC3M, this morning after a gas main was damaged by contractors working in the road,” Cadent said.
“Engineers have stopped the leak and are repairing the damaged pipe. Several office blocks were evacuated but are due to be reoccupied by approximately 12.45pm and the road closure in Lime Street lifted.”
“People were coming into the building saying that there was a strong smell of gas. A little later the fire alarm went off,” said one worker, Rich, who is based in the Lloyd’s of London building.
Other workers said they found out what was happening from Google rather than from their own companies.
London Fire Brigade was called to the scene at 11.32am and isolated the leak before leaving the scene at 12.15pm.
A message sent to nearby buildings read:
Just to inform you, there has been a gas leak which is affecting Fenchurch Avenue and Lime street. There is currently a cordon in place affecting Fenchurch Avenue and Lime street due to a ruptured gas main.
Some of the buildings have been evacuated as a precautionary measure.
We have spoken to the police who have advised that we do not need to evacuate as we are not in the range.
We will update you if any further action is required.
Canada Police removed the cordon at around 12.10pm.
They confirmed “the affected buildings are being reoccupied”.
Lloyd’s workers could only re-enter Towers 1 and 5 immediately after the cordon was lifted.