A RUNAWAY car sparked gas leak fears after it collided with a house and a pipe in a West Kilbride residential area.

The vehicle, thought to belong to an elderly lady, rolled down Halfway Street and hit Victor Boreman’s home, rupturing the gas pipe on his wall.

Police, fire crews, and workers from the gas distribution company SGN attended the scene last Friday (April 21) and Victor’s building was evacuated as a precaution.

Victor, 49, told the Herald: “I was down at the bank in Kilwinning with my partner Yvonne when I got a call from a friend that a car had crashed into my house. Then I got sent pictures on Facebook.

“It had rolled down the hill – I think the old lady had left the handbrake off.

“It finished up crashing into my house and broke the gas mains off the wall. But what you couldn’t see was that it had cracked it underground.

“You know when you’re not supposed to switch anything on when there’s gas about? The lady went to get back into her car and was about to turn on the ignition. There was two young lads, about early 20s, walking by and they stopped her from turning it on.

“If these two young lads hadn’t stopped her, the whole street would have went up. These two lads deserve a pat on the back because they averted a disaster.

“I think it was just one of these things – an accident – because she’s not had the strength to put on the handbrake. I felt sorry for the wee lady because she was really upset about it.”

The Herald spoke to Police Scotland while they were attending the incident and a spokesman said that officers were helping to make the area safe and that there were no concerns of anything suspicious.

A spokesman for Fire Scotland later said: “The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service was alerted at 12.16pm on Friday, April 21, to reports of a car that had collided with a house at Halfway Street, West Kilbride.

“Upon arrival, crews confirmed the car had also ruptured a gas pipe.

“Firefighters used small tools to reduce the pressure of the gas leak. There were no casualties.

“Crews worked closely with Police Scotland and the Gas Utility Agency – ensuring the area was made safe before leaving the scene.”

Lynne Edwardson, a spokeswoman for SGN, said: “We were called out to Halfway Street, West Kilbride, at approximately 12.20pm by police because a car had collided with a house and a gas pipe.

“We attended in our capacity as the national gas emergency service in Scotland.

“Our engineers made a temporary repair to the pipe and are currently working towards a permanent repair.”