A MAN has appeared in court charged with sparking a full scale emergency alert by threatening to cause a gas blast that could have destroyed a block of flats and killed residents

George Miller, 42, is said to have recklessly turned on a gas supply to a cooker within his home in Inverkip Street and allowed the potentially explosive fumes to accumulate and leak into the common close at number 52 on Wednesday night.

Then, as fire and police staged an emergency evacuation of the street, Miller is accused of risking causing an explosion by brandishing a lighter and repeatedly threatening to ignite it.

The charge libelled against Miller says, as police officers looked on, he then lit the lighter and exposed people to ‘a risk of death or injury’.

The accused is also charged with assaulting a constable by attempting to strike him on the head with a pair of scissors, before violently struggling with another policeman and two policewomen who had rushed to the alert call.

Miller made no plea or declaration during a brief appearance in private at Greenock Sheriff Court.

He was represented by defence solicitor Aidan Gallagher. The case against him was continued for further examination by Sheriff Ian Fleming, with the accused remanded in custody.

On Friday householders from the flats told the Telegraph how they had been evacuated amid an alleged gas leak alert and were ‘terrified’ by their ordeal.

Some said they had ‘feared for their lives’ as they were rushed from their homes by police and members of the fire service.

They had to stay away from their flats for a couple of hours and police also had to close part of Inverkip Street to traffic.

Accused Miller is due to appear in court again at a future date.