A NEWTON Abbot fire crew helped colleagues tackle a gas leak drama in Torquay last night (Thursday).

The town’s environmental protection unit was called in just after 6.30pm when a heavy whiff of gas was detected coming from a property in Melville Street above the town centre.

Homes in the area were evacuated while crews from Torquay and Paignton isolated the local supply.

A hosereel jet together with a covering jet were deployed to deal with the small leak in a domestic boiler.

Duty of care was left with a gas engineer.