Residents have been told they can return home but a main road is still closed after a major gas leak this morning.

Homes were evacuated, a main road closed and rail and bus travel along the West Cumbrian coast

Station Road on the A596 in Flimby remains closed to traffic.

Residents may return to their homes there but need to park their cars up and walk until damage from the leak has been repaired.

A long stretch of the A596 has been shut. It is understood that the leak is between Chapel Street and Ryehill Road but a 750m evacuation zone has been set up as a precaution.

A no-fly zone is also in place.

Pupils and staff of Flimby Primary School are among those who have been evacuated from the village.

Initially, pupils were taken to Flimby Ambulance Station but have now been moved to the Wave Centre at Maryport.

Free food and drink is being provided to those evacuated.

A police spokesman said the road had been closed at Lowca Lane, Seaton and from the Irish Street entrance to Maryport.

Diversions are in place and police are urging people to stay away from the scene.

The bus service from Workington to Carlisle have been disrupted. Stagecoach buses are travelling to Workington via the A66.

Train services through Flimby have been stopped and Stagecoach is currently accepting rail tickets to help passengers reach their destinations.

Stevie Sharp, community worker for Northern Gas Networks said the leak was caused when worker for a utility company dug through the main gas pipe for the village, causing a huge gas cloud.

She added: "The evacuation zone has now spread from Station Street to a distance of 750m.

"Initially the ambulance station just outside Flimby was used as an evacuation point but because of the way the wind is blowing we have now moved people to the Wave Centre in Maryport."

Parent Barbara Durham said she did not know if she could get home yet because it depended on how far the cordon had extended.

She added: "Police told us we could try but they gave no guarantee."

Tanya Pears, deputy headteacher of Flimby Primary School, said that when staff smelt gas she went out to see what was happening and was told the school would be evacuated.

She said: "They gave us the choice to go to Workington Leisure Centre but that would have been waiting for buses and having to go up around Broughton Moor so we asked if instead we could go to the ambulance station.

"We walked to the ambulance station but were then told that it wasn't safe and we would come to the Wave."
She said the children and staff walked to the Wave along the cycle path.

She added: "The children were excellent and so were the staff, who carried some of the younger ones."

She thanked her staff, the Wave, police, Northern Gas Networks and parents, who she said had been fantastic.

Some children are being picked up by their parents, while those who cannot yet return home are staying at the Wave.

Elaine Johnston, of Allanby Close, Flimby, said she knew nothing about the gas leak until she went to pick up her three-year-old grandson Jack from the school.

She said: "I was told they had been evacuated. I walked to the ambulance station and then came with them to the Wave."

She had Jack's one-year-old brother with her and said she had taken no extra supplies for them but should be home soon.

Jake Varty, five, said it had been an exciting day at school, adding: "But we weren't allowed outside because of the gas leak and then we walked right down to the Wave."

That was the first time his mother Sarah realised that they had walked.

Sarah, who runs a business at The Settlement, said if necessary she would sleep there tonight and had been told by manager Jim O'Rourke that anybody who was stuck could go there.

As well as schoolchildren, there are some residents at the evacuation centre.

A reception centre has also been set up at Workington Leisure Centre for those affected by the evacuation.

Many of the affected residents have been told they will be able to return home in the next two hours.

However, people living in the terraced homes adjacent to the leak have been warned they will not be back so soon. It is not yet known when they will be allowed to return.

Northern Gas Networks is working to repair the damage to the pipe.