A crown court has been evacuated due to a major incident this morning.

Staff, members of the public, and reporters were told they needed to leave Maidstone Crown Court as a result of a gas leak.

The site in Barker Road, near McDonald’s and the Lockmeadow leisure complex, has now been shut off.

The gas leak was in the cells and caused an evacuation of judges, lawyers, court, and security staff.

One witness at the scene said: “Cases had just begun in the eight courts when everyone was ordered to leave the building.

“As gas engineers began searching for the cause of the leak, court bosses decided to ‘draw stumps’ and remain closed for business.

“Barristers and probation staff were later allowed to access personal items before the doors were closed for the day.

“A number of cases were part-way through and others were due to start when the evacuation order was made.”

In 2019, the same court was evacuated twice within the space of six months.

In December of that year, 32 cases and six trials were stalled after a heater blaze which resulted in two crews being sent to the building.

While in May, dozens of people were evacuated one morning in what turned out to be a Kent Police drill.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “Maidstone Combined Court was closed this morning due to an internal gas leak. The building is safe and we are working to reopen the site as soon as possible. We apologise for any inconvenience.”