SIXTY families were evacuated from their homes last night after a woman's DIY blunder.

Adults and children, some of them in their pyjamas, had to stand in the street for 90 minutes after a neighbour accidentally ruptured a gas pipe while using a pneumatic hammer.

Firefighters were called to Victoria Grove at 7.30pm and immediately asked everyone on the road to leave their homes.

Two firemen wearing breathing apparatus went into the mid-terraced house and opened windows and doors to disperse the gas. Transco repaired the punctured pipe.

A young couple are understood to be moving into the property and doing work on it. The woman was breaking up a concrete floor in the kitchen when it went through a service pipe.

Neighbour Pauline Powell, who has lived in the street for 12 years, said she was in the bath when there was a knock at the door.

"I went downstairs in my dressing gown and a fireman was there was a gas leak and that I'd better get dressed quickly." Mrs Powell said among the evacuated were old people in their pyjamas, babies and a young boy in bare feet.

She added: "A group of lads even went to get some beers. They thought they'd be out for most of the night and wanted to make the most of it.

"It was cold, but everyone seemed to find the funny side of it."

A spokesman for Transco said: "Before carrying out work of this type carry out basic safety checks."

If you can smell gas, Transco advises people not to smoke or strike matches or turn electrical switches on or off.

People should put out naked flames, open doors and windows, keep people away from the area affected and to turn off the meter at the control valve.

The 24-hour emergency number to call is 0800 111 999.