Gas leak causes travel chaos

Commuters faced chaos last Tuesday as a gas leak at Warwick Medical School forced the closure of Gibbet Hill Road for several hours.

It took as long as two hours for some students to get from campus to Leamington, as rush hour traffic ground to a halt, with vehicles clogging up every junction on campus.

The leak, in the Clinical Trials Unit, is believed to have been caused when workers hit a gas main. It took around three hours for it to be repaired and the road reopened. The whole Gibbet Hill campus was evacuated, as well as around 40 homes in the area. A strong smell of gas was present in the air around the affected area.

The leak was reported around 2pm, and emergency services closed Gibbet Hill Road from near Rootes residences to Kenilworth Road as a precaution.