Queens Drive: emergency road closure after discovery of gas leak

An urgent closure of Queens Drive, Liverpool, will be in force from around 5pm today [28 March] as engineers repair a leak on a gas pipe three metres beneath this busy road.

After an assessment earlier today, Cadent, which manages the city region’s gas network, needs to move in immediately to ensure everyone is kept safe.

The closure, which will affect one direction of traffic only (the southbound lanes - see image below), near Townsend Avenue, is needed to enable teams to dig down to the pipe.

Checks have been made of nearby buildings and Cadent is satisfied everyone is safe. But this urgent work must happen now to make sure it stays that way.

The engineers will be working near Queens Drive’s junction with Townsend Avenue, and there will be a diversion route signposted.

Dale Martin, Cadent’s Customer Operations Area Manager for Liverpool, said: “We were first alerted to this by a member of the public reporting in a smell of gas.

“They did exactly the right thing – calling the national gas emergency service on 0800 111 999* so that it could be checked out by our teams.

“The leak is coming from a pipe that runs around three metres underneath Queens Drive, so we have no option but to close the lanes to work on this.

“We will have teams working round-the-clock, 24 hours, to get this repair completed as soon as we can.

“I would expect this will still take days though, given the scale of engineering and work that needs to take place.

“We know this is a busy road and trust that people understand we have to put safety above all considerations.

“We really do appreciate everyone’s patience while we get this work done.”

There should be no impact on gas supply – gas stays ON during the work.

If you smell gas

If you smell gas during this work, nearby or anywhere, always ring the national gas emergency service immediately, day or night, on 0800 111 999*. Do not delay, or assume it’s related to this work. It may not be and must be checked.

Cadent in the North West

Cadent operates four of the UK’s eight gas distribution networks – North West England, West Midlands, Eastern England and North London.

Its North West network stretches from the Lake District to Crewe and is home to 21,000 miles of distribution pipes (most of them underground) and hundreds of above ground installations. If placed end to end, that amount of pipes would stretch from Bolton to Sydney, Australia, and back again.

Around £800m will be invested in the North West’s gas network over the next five years. This will maintain safe, secure supplies to homes, hospitals, schools, offices and other sites, as well as support the UK journey to net zero carbon emissions.

Backed by Cadent and many partners, the North West region is set to lead the way in a major shift from fossil gases to hydrogen. Producing only heat and water at point of use, hydrogen is key to the UK’s net zero future and is set to be introduced at volume in the North West during the 2020s.