TERRIFIED residents said they feared for their lives when they were evacuated from their homes due to a gas leak.

Pensioners David Charles and his sister Sarah West were enjoying a chippy tea at their Inverkip Street flat when they were startled by a loud bang at their door.

They were met by police officers who told them they had to leave their flat immediately of a gas leak in the building.

David, who is recuperating from ill health, escaped outside in his dressing room, alongside Sarah, who is looking after him.

Sarah said the drama, which happened at 5pm on Wednesday, was absolutely petrifying for them and their neighbours.

She told the Tele: "Myself, David and my cousin Betty Spence and her son Johnny were just finishing our tea when the buzzer went.

"It was a policewoman who asked me to let her in but I didn't think much of it.

"We heard them going up the stairs and after that I heard a bang and the next minute I could hear them running down the stairs and they started banging on everyone's doors.

"When I answered the door they told us to get out as there was a gas leak - we were terrified and feared for our lives."

Sarah, 71, said they spent nearly two hours worrying outside as the emergency services dealt with the incident.

She said: "David had his dressing gown on so we were allowed to sit in the back of the ambulance.
"We were really worried.

"We didn't know what was happening."

Their upstairs neighbour Gordon McKay was watching TV when the full-scale emergency situation unfolded.

He said: "I was sitting watching the Champions League football when the police came to the door.
"They were panicking as there was a gas leak from another flat.

"When they tell you it's a gas leak, the first thing you think of is the building blowing up."

The 52-year-old hospital porter managed to escape outside along with his two pet dogs and took shelter in his car.

Young children were also evacuated from the building during the incident.

A mum of two, who asked not to be named, said her eight-year-old daughter was left distraught by the ordeal.

She said: "My youngest daughter was breaking her heart crying, because it was pandemonium.
"We had been sitting having our tea when we heard sirens then we got a chap at the door from the police.

"Once we got outside, the paramedics had to give us blankets to keep us warm."

Paramedics, firefighters and police officers were all involved in the emergency alert.

Residents in the building and those living nearby were evacuated from their homes for nearly two hours and part of Inverkip Street was closed to traffic while police dealt with the incident.

Police say a 42-year-old man arrested during the incident faces prosecution in relation to various disorder charges.