Portsmouth tower block evacuation may have been caused by cleaning product, says council

THE evacuation of residents from a tower block in Portsmouth earlier this week may have been triggered by a strong-smelling cleaning product.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

Portsmouth City Council has been investigating the evacuation of Tipton House in Warwick Crescent, Somers Town, which happened just before 4pm on Wednesday, October 16.

Read More
Evacuated Portsmouth tower block residents are allowed home after reports of a c...

Firefighters, police and paramedics were called to the scene, due to a suspected ammonia leak.

Emergency services were called to Tipton House in Warwick Crescent, Somers Town, Portsmouth, after reports of a chemical incident. Picture: Habibur RahmanEmergency services were called to Tipton House in Warwick Crescent, Somers Town, Portsmouth, after reports of a chemical incident. Picture: Habibur Rahman
Emergency services were called to Tipton House in Warwick Crescent, Somers Town, Portsmouth, after reports of a chemical incident. Picture: Habibur Rahman
Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Hampshire Fire and Rescue later confirmed its crews found ‘nothing’ when they examined the building.

Now, the council believes it may have found the source of the incident.

Meredydd Hughes, assistant director of building services at Portsmouth City Council, said: ‘The incident at Tipton House was fully investigated. Tipton House does not have a gas supply so that was ruled out and there was no sign of chemical leak.

‘It is believed that the use of strong smelling cleaning product in one of the flats was the source of the issue.

‘I would like to thank the multi-agency team that responded to the reported incident and am glad that no further action was required.’

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.