RESIDENTS living near Wrexham Industrial Estate were evacuated from their homes on Monday afternoon after firefighters warned of a possible gas explosion.

A small blaze which started at Barloworld Leading Brands Ltd, an engineering firm on Coed Aben Road on the Industrial Estate, led to the evacuation of their workshop and surrounding homes while fire crews tackled the blaze.

Three fire crews were sent to the scene, two from Wrexham and one from Johnstown, just before 4pm on Monday.

Police cordoned off a 150-metre sector around the premises and staff and nearby residents were quickly directed away from the area.

Speaking at the scene of the emergency, station officer Ernie Williams, who is based at the divisional headquarters in Wrexham, said: 'The situation started with a small blaze within the factory.

'The fire resulted from a fault with a cutting system but flames prevented staff from turning off gas cylinders.

'There was a problem with a system in the factory which led to some acetylene, a gas used for welding, leaking into the factory.

'A decision was made by staff to evacuate the building, because of their inability to turn off the cylinders.

'We have evacuated the surrounding area as there is always the small chance of an explosion. We just need to wait and try to reduce the risk to an acceptable level. We are not taking any unnecessary chances.'

Police officers were also called to the scene in a bid to divert traffic away from the area.

A spokeswoman for Wrexham police said: 'We established a cordon around the premises and our main role was to ensure public safety.

'We evacuated a large number of people and one family, who could not return to their home, were put up in a hotel for the night.

'Our number one priority is public safety and it's always better to be safe than sorry.'

As the Mail went to press, a spokeswoman for the North Wales Fire and Rescue Service said they were still concerned about the gas cylinders and fire crews were to remain at the scene until the area was considered absolutely safe.

She said: 'We still have one pump at the scene and crews are trying to decide on the best course of action to take. 'Fire crews and police expect to be at the scene until at least late Tuesday evening.'

Nobody from Barloworld Leading Brands was available for comment.