People evacuated after a serious gas leak have finally returned home - more than eight hours after the mains pipe burst.

More than a dozen homes were evacuated and several roads closed following the incident.

And tonight a police inspector confirmed the main risk was that the gas would ignite if people lit a match or turned on appliances.

Around 32 people were taken to Maidstone Leisure Centre, which became a designated rescue hub.

The drama began just after 3pm today. A resident of the block of flats heard a bang and looked out of her window.

One resident of South Park Road, 24, had to wait in the street in her pyjamas after her flat was sealed off.

She said: "There was a really loud noise and when I looked outside there was what looked like water or steam spurting like a fountain. When I smelt that it was gas I closed all the windows - I thought it was going to explode.

"It was roughly an hour before I was told to get out of the building.

"It has been really good at the centre, they've had nappies and milk for my friend's baby.

"The only problem has been the information, it hasn't been clear what's going on."

Teams from Maidstone Borough Council, the Kent Resilience Team and the British Red Cross provided support at the leisure centre from 5pm until the last residents weere allowed home at 11.55pm.

It helped 40 evacuees, and provided food, medicines, nappies, baby food and milk.

That included staff from the council getting in fish and chips for those who were stranded.

Staff were also prepared to provide temporary accommodation if it had been needed.

Specialist pharmacy staff from the NHS also attended in case people needed vital medication.

Bryn Price and Graham East were among the Red Cross volunteers at the Mote Avenue Centre, who were on hand for first aid and to look after the welfare of around 15 families of evacuees.

Mr Price said: "We have given stress massages to a few people. Most of the people here have been quite stoic and understand there is a problem. Everybody was helping to look after the younger ones and helping other people."

Members of the WI were also on hand with refreshments.

Steve Scully, senior resilience officer for the Kent Resilience Team, added: "We were also able to secure supplies of baby milk and nappies. We used an arrangement called Crisis Purchase Management where supermarkets will give us stuff in a hurry and we arrange payment later."

It is believed contractors carrying out repairs disturbed the ground around old pipes that collapsed and caused a serious leak.

An SGN spokesman added: "Having exposed the pipe, we found our main had deteriorated and began to leak. Our engineers are on site working to secure the leak and make the situation safe.

"As a precaution, we closed York Road and evacuated a number of properties while we make it safe and complete this repair."

Fire crews were also called at 3.23pm and around 18 police officers were at the scene.

The roads closed were South Park Road, Mote Road, West Park Road and York Road. These have now re-opened.

The homes evacuated were the ones closest to the roundabout at the top of Park Road, where the smell of gas is particularly strong.

Tonight Inspector Jonathan Hambly said: "We were called at 4pm and the first evacuation was at 4.10pm. So from our point of view, I would say the claim it took one hour is possibly exaggerated.

"All of the teams involved had a very set procedure for dealing with this. The main risk was that the something would be turned on and would spark the gas - that rather than the risk that people would breathe it in."

He added: "I am 100% confident that it has been fixed. The pipe has been vented, capped and repaired to be as good as new."

Some fire crews could later be seen leaving just before 5pm, but the road block remained in place.

By 11pm most people had returned home. They were given a police escort from the leisure centre and were met at home by gas engineers who had inspected all the affected properties.