Gas leak evacuation is causing excitement among Croydon Council residents

Residents on Wingate Crescent, Moys Close and other roads near Mitcham Common had to carry out an emergency evacuation in the early hours of the morning after a vehicle left the main A236 road and crashed into a ditch dug to service the gas network. According to official sources, the main pipe was “ruptured” by the impact.

Local residents were told by police that there had been “an incident involving a car at the BP workshop which resulted in a major gas leak”. A security cordon with a radius of 200 meters was set up around the scene of the accident, forcing all residents of the houses in this area to evacuate.

However, as of this afternoon, some residents still did not know when, if ever, they would return to their homes or where they would spend the night.

At around 1.30am this morning, residents of Moys Close were led in the dark across Mitcham Common to an unheated building in Croydon Cemetery. A few hours later police officers were left to go to Croydon University Hospital to collect blankets to keep people warm as the help promised by the council failed to materialise.

The residents of Wingate Close were taken via a different route across the community to Galpins Road – with no temporary accommodation provided for them.

“Croydon Council should be ashamed of themselves,” said one of the evacuated residents.

Another, who had been waiting for news of when he could return home, told the story iC that three hours after the emergency evacuation “no council staff were on site at all”.

By late morning, some residents were allowed to return to their homes, but not those in the shelters closest to the disaster. Engineers were still on site this afternoon as the A236 Mitcham Road was closed in both directions.

As of 4 p.m., the latest estimate from gas engineers and police was that it was hoped all remaining evacuated residents would soon be able to return to their homes, with the safety cordon within 27 meters of the crash site. Officials said 11 people were still in the rest stop.

It has been just over two years since there was a serious explosion on Galpins Road in Thornton Heath, which occurred while work was being carried out on the gas main nearby. Four-year-old Sahara Salman died in a collapsed house while several houses on the street were destroyed.

Today, households on Mitcham Road and Rochford Way are believed to be among the homes that have been evacuated.

A block of flats on Wingate Crescent consists of 38 apartments, all of which were due to be evacuated immediately after the incident, around 1.20am.

Crash point: The vehicle left the road onto the factory premises and damaged the gas pipes

Croydon Council issued a statement on the matter In Croydon It claimed that they had “established an emergency resting place for those affected” and that the council was “continuing to support these residents with food and shelter until they can safely return to their homes”.

Only 15 households were affected, said the official council spokesman.

But evacuated residents on site who were spoken to iC out of their distress over the situation, claiming that the Council's version of events was untrue. They are angry that they and their families, some with young children, are not receiving adequate support from the local authority.

“I’m angry with Croydon Council,” one abandoned and angry resident wrote on social media.

“We were woken up at 1.20am by police banging on the door,” said a resident.

They were told to “leave everything behind and not take our cars” and “had to walk to the cemetery where we sat on the ground in the freezing cold for six hours and were told we weren't allowed to go home .”

“Croydon Council should be ashamed,” they said.

“The police told us that the community is trying to bring buses to us so that we can sit in the warmth. Then, two hours later, we were informed that they were moving forward with a plan to open a community center. Two hours later nothing, absolutely nothing.

“It got colder. The police went to Mayday [Hospital] and got blankets. Still no sign from Croydon Council.

“I had my six-year-old daughter and my dog ​​with me. There were also babies out and about in this cold.

“They told us that if you don't have family or friends nearby, we should try to find a hotel.

“But we don’t have any money for a hotel. They have now completely blocked off our access so we can't go anywhere. I’m annoyed with Croydon council.”

The Metropolitan Police declined to comment on the incident.

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