Butcher Sean Reidy, 55, saved Alcester from tragedy following a dangerous gas leak

THEY say not all heroes wear capes – some of them just have very good noses.

That was the case with butcher Sean Reidy, 55, who saved Alcester from tragedy following a dangerous gas leak last week.

As residents of Evesham Street hunkered down in their homes on a cold winter’s evening on Tuesday, 14th January, none were aware that a potentially deadly chain of events was being set in motion in the pipes under the road.

Luckily Sean, who lives with wife Vera in Kinwarton Road in the town and has two sons, aged 19 and 22, happened to be calling in on his mum Susan, who lives at number eight with step-dad Alan Johnson.

Picking up the story, Sean told the Herald: “Normally I park at the back of the house when I call, but that night I stopped at the front of the house, parking by Paul Lenards hairdressers.

“As I walked up the street, I smelled gas – I’d got a whiff a few days before. I hadn’t thought much of it previously, I thought it must be my imagination.

“This time it was definite, and I could smell it outside of my mum’s. When I got inside it was noticeable in the front window bay.

“I rang 111 999, and that was it. I had a cup of tea with my mum and went home. But she rang me 40 minutes later to say they’d been evacuated. Things had turned quite dramatic.”

Workers from Cadent, the company that deals with gas emergencies, found such high levels of gas they immediately evacuated the neighbourhood.

In all 19 houses in the street were evacuated, and windows and the front door of Annabel Sarah Bridal opposite the Johnsons were smashed by the fire service in an attempt to let air in the building and lessen the build up of fumes.

Residents have speculated that the freezing weather took its toll on the already fragile and old pipes in the street.

Sean added: “I understand it was in pipes in the road. The houses on the street are all quite old, a lot of them around 300 years old with cellars. And with the gas leaking from the pipes it can only escape underground and then got into the cellars and filled the buildings.”

“The whole street was so close to a deadly explosion that Cadent took decisive action to evacuate immediately after arriving on the scene.

“They were putting up residents in hotels, so I said to Mum to stop round our house for the night,” he added.

Sean also says he heard from a Cadent worker just how close things had come to a tragic outcome. He said he was amazed the street didn’t go up – and that the readings were some of the highest he’d ever seen. He couldn’t believe the levels were so high.

Although Sean’s vigilant action potentially saved lives, he says no one’s called him a hero… except his mum.

“Only my mum’s called me a hero,” said Sean, who works at Barry the Butchers in Stratford. “She was like, you should put it on Facebook! But I haven’t really spoken to anybody about it – just a couple of people at work.”

However those neighbours who heard of Sean’s heroic deed, have been profusely thankful.

Among them was Annabel Richardson, who owns the Annabel Sarah Bridal boutique. She told the Herald: “I’m so grateful to my neighbour’s son, Sean, who alerted emergency service. Sean effectively has just saved a lot of lives. Without his action, there could have been fatalities, it was that serious.”

The Herald is more than happy to declare Sean a hero on behalf of the community – well done, and thank you.

Craig Hansbury, head of customer operations at Cadent, said: “I’d like to say ‘thank you’ to everyone impacted by this, for their understanding and full co-operation during a safety-critical incident.

“We had to evacuate a number of properties as a safety precaution, because we found gas inside properties. Within 24 hours we had repaired the gas pipe and our customers were able to return home, having either stayed in hotels, which we arranged for them, or having stayed with people they knew.

“We finished on site this week, with repairs all completed. Jobs like these serve as an important reminder to ring the gas emergency service immediately, day or night, if you ever smell gas. The number is 0800 111 999. It is a good idea to save the number into your phone, should you ever need it.”

Cadent say they expect to replace about 100 metres of pipe in the area in the next few years as part of their nationwide replacement programme.