Paisley’s town centre and train station were evacuated by emergency services responding to a gas scare that is now thought to have been caused by a stink bomb.
The pungent stench erupted in The Last Post, a JD Wetherspoon pub close to the Scottish town’s railway station, shortly after 8pm last night.
JD Wetherspoon spokesman Eddie Gorshon told BBC Scotland that the smell of a “gas substance” was noticed by a member of staff, who alerted the pub manager.
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“The gas engineer arrived and he concluded that it was not a gas leak. The manager was told to keep everyone out of the building,” Gershon said.
“At around 21.30 the fire brigade and police arrived and begin to set up a cordon around the entire pub and shut Paisley Gilmour street train station.”
By this point, punters were complaining of feeling unwell after inhaling the foul-smelling air. Ambulances were dispatched, and several people received medical attention “as a precaution”.
At the peak of the operation, eight fire engines were on the scene, alongside police and environmental health units searching for the source of the chemical odour.
However, the actual source of the stench “appears to be a stink bomb prank gone wrong”, according to local radio station Clyde 1, which attributes the stunt to a group of “youths” inside the pub.
Gorshon assured customers that the premises has since been fully ventilated, and that CCTV footage had been passed on to police to help identify the suspects.