'Gas leak' diverts marathon route

The London Marathon had to be rerouted 200m after a suspected gas leak in a pub in east London.

Reports of a strong smell of gas at the Old Rose Pub on The Highway, Wapping, changed the course for the remaining runners at the 13 mile point.

But engineers investigated and found no leak. The area has now been given the all-clear.

About 35,000 runners set off on Sunday morning from south-east London and finish on The Mall, central London.

London Fire Brigade said it was called at 0950 BST to reports of a strong smell of gas.

Precautionary measure

Spectator had to be moved and parts of the road closed as Transco investigated the leak.

The pub was taped off by police as the route was moved from one side of the highway carriage to the other.

A spokeswoman for Transco said any gas escape would have been internal and would not have posed a risk to the marathon route.

However, it was decided to change the course as a precautionary measure.

The barriers were moved back to their original position after the all-clear was given.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7345058.stm