HUNDREDS of workers were evacuated last night after a 40ft gas cloud formed over a Crawley industrial estate.
Nearly 50 firefighters worked until nearly midnight to disperse a plume of hydrogen chloride that formed after a 300kg drum began leaking at BOC Gases in Fleming Way on the Manor Royal Industrial Estate.
BOC engineers in protective clothing worked from 5.45pm to decant the chemical, which is used in the manufacture of microchips, from the leaking steel drum into a safe container at the rate of a kilo a minute.
Firefighters sprayed water into the gas cloud to dilute and disperse it.
Nearby factories in Priestley Way, Rutherford Way and Royce Road were evacuated and local roads and the A23 to Lowfield Heath were closed.
Workers at other factories were warned to stay indoors and to keep windows shut and a group of travellers parked nearby were moved to a car park at Fleming Way.
Workers were allowed back after 9pm when the roads re-opened.
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