RESIDENTS of Norton Fitzwarren have spoken out about a lack of information given to the public during a gas leak in the village.

Jeff Gale, who lives in Station Road, right next door to the Old Cider Factory where the incident occurred, said no-one was informed about what was going on during the episode.

Wales and West Utilities were alerted to reports on Friday afternoon of a gas leak on Station Road, caused by third party damage to a medium pressure main, and said that a team was immediately despatched to make the site safe.

Although the leak was said to not be a danger to the public, Mr Gale said: "The thing that annoyed us was that we were not told at all."

Neighbour Malcolm Anderson also had concerns about the way it was handled and said: "This could have been a major disaster but nobody was told and there was no evacuation."

A spokesman from Wales and West Utilities told the Star: "Our team assessed the situation with the emergency services and found that it posed no threat to public safety. It was therefore not necessary to initiate an evacuation.

"We carefully controlled the leak to ensure gas supplies to properties in the area were not affected and the first stage of the repair work was completed Saturday afternoon.

"We were aware of the gas odour in the area and engaged in a liaison programme with local residents and businesses, through personal visits and the local media, to advise them of the reason for this and reassure them it was not cause for concern.

"We also received reports Saturday morning that Taunton Library had taken the decision to evacuated due to gas odour. We despatched a team to investigate who found the odour was linked to the leak in Norton Fitzwarren."