'Gas leak' causes panic in English town, revealed to be a durian

On Sep. 16, a small seaside town in England woke up to panic and confusion over fears of a suspected gas leak.

The true culprit?

Not a faulty pipeline but the world’s smelliest fruit — the durian.

Locals in Lancashire in the UK raised an alarm over a “strong gassy smell” drifting along the high street, reported The Daily Mail.

The alarm was first raised by a charity shop, describing what smelled like a gas leak.

Left unchecked, such leaks can pose serious risks such as sparking fires or causing gas poisoning.

Engineers were promptly dispatched by the Cadent gas company, UK’s largest gas distribution network, to investigate the situation.

They first inspected the charity shop that had tipped them off, before moving to a neighbouring body care store.

Finding nothing, the engineers eventually made their way to a fruit and vegetable shop where they would discover the actual source of the “gas leak”.

The true culprit

The store assistants, Wai Peng Cheng, 51, and his partner Candy Pooi Kuan Lam, 46, had “no idea”  what was going on when they spotted the engineers with their testing equipment.

“When he mentioned the smell and I told him it was the durian... he didn’t believe me at first,” Cheng said, as quoted by The Telegraph. “It was only when I took him outside and gave one to him that he realised.”

“We all just started laughing. He then checked if there was any gas leak outside just to be sure but of course there wasn’t.”

King of Fruits flies off UK shelves despite causing panic

Cheng and his partner had recently returned from Malaysia and suggested to the shop owner, Andrew Simpkins, that the store stock the delicacy.

Beloved and well-known for its creamy flesh in Southeast Asia and Singapore, the notorious fruit is still banned on MRTs here due to its overwhelming odour.

This odour has been likened to rotting onions, sewage, or — you guessed it — strong gas.

According to The Telegraph, Simpkins said that he was aware of the fruit’s strong smell, but did not think that it would manage to lure the gas board out to their shop.

“They told me there were some police officers there too,” he added.

“We only bought a small box full this week but they have flown off the shelf.

I tried some for the first time – I was sceptical at first but it has a pleasant aftertaste.”

Phil Hendrick, the company’s head of operational delivery at Cadent’s northwest branch, said that it was not unusual for emergency calls to have unexpected sources that were not gas-related.

“Over the years, we’ve traced reported smells to a variety of sources – from factory discharges and aviation fuel, to dockside activities and, on occasion, durian fruit, which is known for its particularly strong odour.”

The company head confirmed that there were no traces of gas detected at the site.

Top images via Google Maps, Pixabay