More than150 workers were evacuated from premises on the Hithercroft industrial estate in Wallingford after a major gas leak.

Police and firefighters sealed off part of the estate after workers on a nearby housing development damaged a plastic gas pipe yesterday.

More than 60 workers were told to leave offices, a factory and warehouse units while Transco engineers carried out repairs.

Emergency services were called after gas was discovered leaking into the air from the gas main running through the estate.

A fire crew crew from Didcot was on standby at the scene in case the leak caught fire.

The area was declared safe for people to return to work within an hour.

Station Officer John Fathers, of Oxfordshire Fire Service, said later: "With a gas leak there's always a risk. We treated it as a serious incident to start with.

"There was no panic situation. It's standard practice to get people away as quickly as possible.

"Transco were in attendance very quickly."