ROCHESTER Cathedral and parts of the nearby King's School were evacuated after workers hit a gas main.

Firefighters from Strood and Medway were called to St Margaret's Street just after 1pm yesterday.

A spokesman from Southern Gas Networks said later: "It was a small leak but as it was a medium pressure main it probably sounded a lot worse than it was. We were on site so we repaired the leak while we were there."

The gas supply to residents in the area was not affected by the incident.

Leading firefighter Jim Smart said: "When we arrived on the scene and the gas was leaking out at quite a rate, so our first concern was to evacuate the area and make sure everyone was safe.

"We ran out the firefighting hoses in case anything caught light. The gas board fixed the leak. We just provided emergency cover."

The fire crews spent around an hour at the scene.