A SOUTHAMPTON office block was evacuated last night after a suspected gas leak was reported in the city centre.
Staff at the HSBC offices in Overline House in Blechynden Terrace were evacuated after reports of a gas leak led to more than 30 fire fighters deployed to the scene.
Crews from St Mary’s, specialist hazardous equipment from Redbridge, plus crews from Winchester and Romsey along with senior officers were sent to the scene at about 6.30pm.
After hours of searching for the cause of the leak officers eventually traced it to a “smelly battery in a telephone exchange”.
A spokesman for Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service said: “It was one of those jobs that could have potential to be quite nasty because of what it was, but thankfully it wasn’t.”
Officers left the scene at about 8.45pm.
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