Oswestry town centre evacuated after car crashes into shop breaking gas main pipe

The car hit the side of the Textile Express building in Church Street at 8.30am, hitting railings and narrowly missing a traffic light.

Police immediately set up a cordon around the site, closing off Church Street and diverting traffic.

Sergeant Scott Barnes of Oswestry Police said: "The car is on the railings. It's caused a gas leak which has been temporarily secured. At the moment the whole street's been closed off. The gas main will have to be repaired before

"We have to wait for a structural engineer to come and check the building. Before anything will reopen we have to make sure the building's safe and the gas is not going to get any more leaks.

"The female driver is being treated by paramedics. She doesn't have any life-threatening injuries.

"It is going to effect businesses within a 200m area at the moment. But now the gas main has been capped it's not such an immediate emergency."

Joseph Edwards, from Lower Brook Street, was walking his dog past the scene just after it happened.

He said: "If anyone had been walking there at the time they would have been killed. The car's gone straight into the building and it looks like it's a write off. The front end and the side are all pushed in, and half of it's up on the railings."

A 200m cordon was set up around the site with shops and homes evacuated, as well as Bellan House, the primary school site of Oswestry School.

Those not immediately next to Textile Express were allowed back in at 9.35am.

A spokeswoman for Oswestry School said: "Bellan House has this morning been evacuated due to a gas leak situated at Textile Express. All Bellan pupils have been safely escorted to the Peter Humphries Centre on the senior school site where they will remain for as long as necessary.

"All pupils are quite happy and safe. The catering team have been made aware of the situation and can provide morning refreshments and lunch for all pupils."

Surrounding roads were reopened at 10.40am.