Primary school evacuated after 'gas leak' to remain closed to hundreds of pupils

A primary school in East Lothian, which was evacuated on Tuesday for emergency gas repairs, will remain closed on Friday and potentially into Monday.

Children attending St Gabriel’s Primary School and nursery in Prestonpans were moved as a precaution to the local church hall and residents alerted to the incident earlier this week.

SGN advised the pupils to be moved from the school as engineering teams continue to carry out repairs and investigations with gas readings still being registered.

It comes after a smell of gas was reported in the South Grange Avenue area of the town with some residential properties also evacuated earlier this week.

In a letter to parents and carers on Thursday, East Lothian Council confirmed the school is to be closed on Friday, November 29 and said it was “too early to say” if it could re-open on Monday.

Nicola McDowell, head of education at East Lothian Council said: “We recognise the disruption that this essential emergency closure has caused to children and families.

“It’s still too early to say whether the school will reopen on Monday, so we are moving forward with alternative plans to use other facilities in the area so that children can definitely return to in-person learning from then.

“Our school staff are also eager to see and support your children in person and our priority will be to do this within the local community.

“We will be in contact with SGN over the weekend for continued updates on the status of their works and will let you know on Sunday (or before if possible) what arrangements are in place for in-person learning on Monday – whether this is a return to St Gabriel’s or to another space.”

The council noted it was not possible at this time for entry to be made to the school to collect personal belongings.

A spokesperson for SGN earlier this week said: “We’re carrying out urgent repairs to our gas network in South Grange Avenue, Prestonpans after a smell of gas was reported this morning.

“Our engineers are carrying out investigations in the area, and we’ve evacuated some properties, including St Gabriel’s primary school and nursery, to ensure everyone’s safety.

“The school moved pupils to St Gabriel’s RC Church Hall before contacting parents and carers to collect children from there.

“We’ve also partially closed South Grange Avenue to motorists around our site and local diversions are in place between Grange Road and Grange Grove, to allow us to safely locate the gas escape and repair the affected pipe.

“It’s too early to suggest how long the repair will take to complete, and when it might be safe for people to reoccupy the evacuated properties.

“We’re constantly monitoring the situation and working hard to identify the source of the leak and carry out the required repairs as soon as we can.”