A BIRKBY resident caused 12 homes to be evacuated by pouring petrol down the sink.

Firefighters were called to Norman Road in the early hours of yesterday morning after neighbours reported a strong smell of petrol.

Residents were woken up and evacuated into the street for more than two hours as crews took measures to make the buildings safe.

No-one was injured in the incident.

Watch Commander Andy Wooler of Huddersfield Fire Station said: “The basements were logged with petrol vapours in the sewage pipes.

“We used specialist equipment and gas detectors. “One spark and it could have been a wholly different incident.

“From a fire safety point of view it was extremely dangerous which is why we took measures to evacuate 12 homes.

“We got a call at 1.50am to an address in Birkby. When we got there we found that a resident had poured around five to six litres of petrol down the sink to get rid of it.”

The brigade’s specialist Hazardous Materials Unit was mobilised and a temporary base set up on Birkby Road.

Crews then took steps to ventilate the basements of each property before residents could return home nearly two hours later.

Mr Wooler added: “Why anyone would pour petrol down the sink is beyond us. It is just fortunate nothing more serious happened.”