The alert also led to the closure of a road and the evacuation of houses and a restaurant, after a mains gas leak and an arson attack on a skip were reported 50 metres apart, and within five minutes of each other.

North Wales Fire Service were called out when the scent of gas was reported on the Castle Park Industrial Estate in Flint at around 6.45pm yesterday.

Gas emergency service Transco and the police rushed to the scene, and while there received a report of a skip fire near the Proctor and Johnson building, which is thought to have been started deliberately.

Because of the dangers of gas and fire in close proximity, buildings within a 500-metre radius of the site were evacuated.

People were cleared from six homes, while the nearby McDonalds and an office building on the site were also evacuated.

The A548 road was closed off by police cars, and emergency plans were put in place for a long-term closure had the leak ignited.

The railway line was also shut down for 20 minutes, as the incident took place close to Flint station.

Sgt Scott Gallagher of North Wales Police said: "We are looking into the cause of the skip fire, but we are not linking the arson attack and the gas leak at this stage.

"A gas leak started at the same time as a skip fire. It could have been a horrendous set of circumstances.

"Our main concern was the safety of the public in Flint and we thank the people who co-operated with our request to evacuate the area.
"We were able to get everyone out quickly."

Sgt Gallagher added: "Transco advised us to evacuate the maximum area until we knew it was safe.

"Typically of the Flint community, people co-operated straight away and understood the dangers they were facing."

An engineer from Manweb-Scottish Power was called as there were a large amount of electrics in the area.

For safety reasons, firefighters were not allowed to put out the skip fire in case the gas ignited.

The gas leak was stopped at 8.10pm and the fire was put out at 8.39pm.