Homes And Businesses Evacuated Following Incident

Authorities in Strathclyde have been urged by legal specialists to ensure that lessons are learned from a fuel leak in the centre of Beith which led to the evacuation of homes and businesses.

Strathclyde Fire & Rescue has revealed that crews were called to Main Street in the North Ayrshire town following reports of a strong smell of petrol. It was found that the levels of petroleum vapour were high enough to cause both headaches and nausea.

Experts from the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency advised emergency services on the removal of the substance from water, while public health officials were also briefed on the situation.

Irwin Mitchell’s public liability claims experts act for workers and members of the general public who have been injured or suffered illness as a result of exposure to harmful chemicals, helping them to gain answers over the problems they have faced and justice over their ordeals.

Elaine Russell, a lawyer with expertise in such cases at Irwin Mitchell’s Glasgow office, said: “We have seen a number of cases in the past when people have suffered health problems after chemical incidents similar to this.

“It is obviously a huge concern to see these problems emerge and we hope that the emergency services and environmental protection teams are able to work together to determine the cause of these problems, as well as what can be done to prevent them from happening again.

“It must be added however that the swift action by firefighters and others in relation to this case is clearly very positive and we hope that this has gone some way to ensuring members of the public were protected from any potential harm.”