A MAJOR gas leak caused serious disruptions to rail traffic on the East Coast Line yesterday.

Dozens of people were evacuated from surrounding homes and factories when contract workers accidentally ruptured a gas main at Station Lane, Birtley, Gateshead at 10.20am.

Three fire appliances attended and made preparations for a possible explosion, while police cordoned off the area.

While a number of factories were cleared, about 150 workers at the nearby Royal Ordnance factory did not have to leave - but production was stopped for half an hour.

A senior management team from Transco attended and repaired the 6in medium pressure gas main.

A spokesman for the company said it appeared the main had been ruptured while contractors were levelling the surface of the road.

A spokesman for GNER said that because the leak was on a bridge above the line, train services were stopped while emergency repairs were carried out.

About a dozen trains were affected, including six which were more than 45 minutes late.

The spokesman said: "We got back to normal services at about noon, but of course the stoppage had a knock-on effect on all subsequent services."