A cement mixer crashed into a building site ditch in St John's Hill Battersea, bursting a gas mains and forcing emergency services to evacuate the area.

The safety cordon around the crash had to be extended with the smell of gas filling the air around Clapham Junction station.

Wandsworth Borough Council set up a rest centre opened to anyone who needed it.

Fire crews, police and ambulance services were at the site in St John's Hill, with reports first coming in at about 10.20am.

The lorry on a building site went into a ditch, damaging a gas line.

Reporter Rebecca Taylor reports: "People coming out of the road have seen lots of emergency vehicles at the scene."

The road has now reopened after crews sealed the gas main

Matthew Anderson, who lives on St Johns Hill said: "The lorry looked like a cement mixer and had gone in upside down. 

"You could see its wheels." 

A member of staff at St John's therapy centre said a traffic warden in the area at the time called the police. 

The driver is said to have walked out of the lorry. 

Another resident, who did not wish to be named, was woken by her daughter when an evacuation began. 

She said: "I was in my house, I was sleeping and my daughter came in and shouted 'come on, mum' because we had to get out. 

"A lady came and said we have to get out. 

"They told me maybe 1 or 2pm before I can go in." 

A spokesman for the Met said: "Cordons have been put in place, and some nearby buildings evacuated, as a precaution.

"The driver of the lorry was taken to hospital.

"His injuries are not thought to be life threatening."

The lorry is expected to be lifted at a later date.

 


 

More to follow. 

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