Residents in Dartington were evacuated from their homes for more than four hours following reports of a suspected gas leak.

Police, fire crews and gas engineers attended a property in Beacon View on Tuesday May 31 where the alarm had been raised.

Officers were concerned for the welfare of the woman inside the property.

A 60-metre cordon was put in place and neighbours evacuated by police.

Gas engineers from Wales and West Utilities isolated the property from the gas network but found no evidence of a gas leak.

A police spokesman said: “We were called at around  4.20pm on Tuesday 31 May with a report of a possible gas leak at a property in Beacon View, Dartington, and concern for the welfare of a woman inside the address.

“Units attended along with the fire service and gas engineers.

“A 60-metre cordon was put in place and nearby residents were evacuated.

“Officers subsequently spoke with the woman and the situation was resolved safely.

“The cordon was lifted at around 8.30pm.”

Talking about the incident on Facebook, one woman wrote: “The whole of Beacon View had to be evacuated from their homes for hours. It took around eight hours to be sorted.”

A local mum added: “We were evacuated too, just as I was putting my little girl to bed. Glad everyone is safe.”

Someone else wrote: “That sounds very serious indeed. A lot of people were congregated at the pub having drinks because they had nowhere to go.”

A spokesman from Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service said: “We were called to that address at 5.15pm and one crew were there until 8.50pm.”

Dan Shaw-Giles, Wales and West Utilities Gas emergency service manager for Dartington said: “We were called to reports of a smell of gas at a property in the Beacon View area of Dartington last Tuesday (31 May) and immediately sent engineers to investigate.

“When we arrived, we found that the emergency services were dealing with an incident at the property.

“As a precaution, the emergency services had evacuated nearby homes and asked us to isolate the property from the gas network.

“The emergency services were in control of the scene.

“We found no evidence of a gas or a gas leak and left the area.”