How the ‘world’s smelliest fruit’ sparked a town centre’s gas leak emergency

An engineer was dispatched to a town centre gas leak emergency that turned out to be a green grocer’s very smelly fruit.

The worker, from Cadent gas company, visited a number of shop in Lytham, Lancashire, to test for gas after a shopper reported a strong smell of the toxic substance.

How once they reached Strongs Fruit and Veg shop staff informed them that the odour was actually durian, known as the smelliest fruit in the world.

Store assistants Wai Peng Cheng, 51, and his partner Candy Pooi Kuan Lam, 46, had not been aware of the emergency callout and had ‘no idea’ what was going on when they spotted the engineer with his testing equipment.

Wai Peng said: ‘We saw a gas engineer pull up in front of the shop at around 1pm and he went into the charity shop next door.

‘About an hour later he tried the body care shop on the other side before coming inside Strongs.

‘He said he was looking for a gas leak and that the charity shop next store had reported it after a customer told them about the strong gassy smell.’

Mr Cheng told the engineer the smell was caused by the the durian fruit, but initially be didn’t believe him.

‘It was only when I took him outside and gave one to him that he realised,’ he added.

‘We all just started laughing it was hilarious – he then checked if there was any gas leak outside just to be sure, but of course there wasn’t, before leaving at 4pm.’

Durian fruits are a popular delicacy found predominantly in Southeast Asia.

They have a powerful, pungent rotting onion smell and have even been known to be banned from being carried inside hotels and public transport in parts of Asia.

Wai Peng and Candy had been on holiday to Malaysia and when they returned to the UK earlier this month they asked Strongs store owner Andrew Simpkins, 61, if they could stock the fruit, to which he agreed.

The store received a delivery of the fruit last week and they put it on display later that day, hours before the incident happened.

They sell the fruit for £22 per 500g.

Andrew said: ‘I knew it smelled bad but I didn’t think it would bring the gas board out.

‘They told me there were some police officers there too.

‘We only bought a small box full this week but they have flown of the shelf.

‘I tried some for the first time – I was sceptical at first but it has a pleasant aftertaste.’

Phil Hendrick, head of operational delivery (north west) at Cadent, said: ‘One of our engineers responded to a report of a gas smell inside a building.

‘As part of his routine checks, he visited adjoining properties – including a fruit and veg shop – and found no trace of gas in any of the buildings.

‘As the gas emergency response service, we attend thousands of reported smells of gas every year.

‘Thankfully, most turn out not to be gas-related.’

He said that over the years, the company has traced reported smells to a variety of sources – from factory discharges and aviation fuel, to dockside activities and, on occasion, durian fruit.

He added: ‘If you ever smell gas, calling it in is always the right thing to do, every time. Don’t take chances. Act immediately and ring the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999, day or night.

‘Our engineers carry sensitive equipment that can detect even the smallest traces of gas.

‘Whether it turns out to be gas, or just a smelly fruit, it’s always better to be safe than sorry.’

Cadent operates the gas emergency service for four of the UK’s eight gas distribution network areas.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.