REPORTS of a "significant gas leak" forced police to evacuate an estimated 700 people from a large block of flats.

The force has since declared a "major incident" with officers remaining at the scene in Milton Mount Avenue, Crawley.

Police, fire and ambulance crews were called to the block of flats in the early hours of this morning.

About 700 people were evacuated and placed in temporary accommodation until the scene is made safe.

No injuries have been reported, Sussex Police said in a statement.

Detective Chief Superintendent Steve Rayland said: “This is an ongoing incident which has caused huge disruption to hundreds of people on a cold January morning, and I’d like to thank everyone for their patience and understanding as we continue to work with our partners to minimise the ongoing disruption.

“We are working hard to ensure this is dealt with as soon as possible to enable everyone to return home, however this may take several hours yet.

"In the meantime, we are urging everyone to stay away from the area to allow the responding agencies to focus on resolving the incident to allow residents to return home.

“The exact cause of the gas leak is yet to be determined but not believed to be criminal, and we will provide more information as soon as we are able to.”

Police, fire and ambulance crews have been joined by members of West Sussex County Council, Crawley Borough Council and SGN as the agencies work "to resolve the incident as quickly and safely as possible".

What is a major incident?

A major incident is defined as: "An event or situation, with a range of serious consequences, which requires special arrangements to be implemented by one or more emergency responder agencies."

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