Road reopens after lorry crashes into gas main

A major road in Argyll and Bute has reopened more than seven hours after a lorry crashed into a gas main.

The A815 at Cowal Kirk in Toward, south of Dunoon, was shut after the collision at about 5.20am on Friday.

Police Scotland evacuated a number of nearby properties and had warned drivers to avoid the area.

There were no reported injuries.

Officers announced just after 1pm that the road had been reopened.

Scottish Gas Networks said it is still working to fix the loss of gas to dozens of nearby homes.

Dan Brown, a spokesman for the gas distribution company, said its engineers are carrying out urgent repairs.

He said: “Gas supplies to 47 properties were lost after a vehicle collided with our network along the A815, near Cowal Kirk.

“We’ve been working to remove our damaged gas governor, and we’re in the process of fitting a replacement, enabling affected properties to have gas available again.

“All being well, our engineers will be able to start restoring gas supplies to these 47 homes this evening.

“Following the vehicle collision, Police Scotland evacuated three nearby properties as a precaution.

“These homes have since been reoccupied after our engineers completed safety checks and no gas readings were found.”