HOMES were evacuated by fire crews after a gas main was ruptured as a car crashed into a lamppost last night (Wednesday).

An Audi A3 hit a lamppost and gas main on Main Street, Billinge shortly before 10.45pm.

A 200-metre cordon was put in place as police closed off the road.

Nearby houses were also evacuated by fire crews.

Police say the driver and passenger suffered "minor injuries" from the crash.

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A police spokeswoman said: "We were called to Main Street shortly before 10.40pm last night (October 21) following reports a grey Audi A3 had collided with a lamppost and the gas main.

"A cordon was put in place and a number of people from nearby properties were evacuated as a precaution while a gas engineer attended, before returning home shortly after.

"The driver and passenger, two men in their 30s, sustained minor injuries. Road closures were lifted around 12.15am.

"Anyone with information can contact @MerPolCC or 101 with log 1036 of October 21."

A Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said: "There was a one-car road traffic collision where the vehicle remained on all four wheels and had hit a lamppost.

"The vehicle had ruptured a gas main so crews evacuated homes nearby and put a 200-metre cordon in place."

He added: "The main was cooled by a ground monitor spraying it with water and a main branch hose.

"Merseyside Police Police colleagues closed off Main street.

"Gas engineers capped the gas main and fire crews were able to remove the 200-metre cordon and handed over the incident to Merseyside Police.

"Crews were alerted at 10.44pm and on scene at 10.54pm, they remained on scene until 11.29pm."