Excavation workers hit the pipe while working behind the Inverell Court House and it took about an hour and 20 minutes to fix the problem.

Inverell Fire Brigade attended the incident to stop the gas leak.

There were five fire brigade officers who were involved in the action while other officers and police supervised and blocked Otho St.

Inverell Fire Station Commander Mark Savage said the leak had the potential to go very wrong.

“If the gas had of ignited there would have been a large explosion, especially because there were two vehicles parked next to the cylinder and petrol bowsers right behind where it was located,” Commander Savage said.

“Everyone involved had the situation under control straight away though and it was a good result.”

Commander Savage said his crew used breathing apparatus and used high-pressure hoses to disperse the gas and stop any sparks from igniting.

“Then they secured the valves, turned the cylinders off and stopped the leakage,” Commander Savage said.

“They used lots of water in spray form so there was no chance the gas could ignite.

“There could have been large problems but it was taken care of efficiently.”

Gas fitters from Macintyre Gas checked out the gas cylinder after the fire brigade finished the work and it was deemed safe about 2pm.