Sixty homes evacuated after car crashes into house in Burgess Hill

  • Watch video report by ITV News Meridian's Kit Bradshaw

Around sixty homes had to be evacuated after a car crashed into the side of a house in Burgess Hill, causing a gas leak.

Several families in Perryfields were moved to a cordon hundreds of yards away, after the accident at 6.50pm on Friday, 23 April.

Families moved to safety in Burgess Hill.

Some residents were not able to return to their homes until gone 10pm, when the area was declared safe by fire crews and gas workers.

Sussex Police says no injuries were reported and its officers are investigating the cause of the collision.

The car became embedded in the side of the detached house.

One resident had been returning home from a cycle ride when the crash happened. Philip Instone-Brewer told ITV News Meridian he heard a “loud crunch and screeching followed by a lot of screaming” and then “a really pungent smell of gas”.

  • Philip Instone-Brewer, local resident:

Firefighters and gas engineers worked for more than three hours to make the area safe.

West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service sent two engines and a technical rescue vehicle to the scene. 

One family had just sat down for dinner when there was a bang at the door. When Jennie Moger answered it, a police officer told her she had to leave her home immediately.

  • Jennie Moger, local resident: