A foul smelling cloud of gas which wafted over to parts of the South East from a chemical factory in France today prompted dozens of calls to emergency services.
An accidental discharge of the gas mercaptan from a factory in the northern city of Rouen travelled across the English Channel early this morning.
People in Kent, Sussex, Surrey and parts of London reported the unpleasant aroma but emergency services said the gas is harmless and presents no danger to the public.
The panic caused by the smell prompted London Fire Brigade to Tweet: "We've been called to 25 gas incidents since 10.30am. The rotten egg smell is coming from France but has no risk to public #zutalors"
The tweet was quickly followed up by a second which read: "On a serious note though if you smell gas in your home call the national gas emergency number on 0800 111 999"
Sussex Police said they had received more than 25 calls by 9.15am, neighbouring Surrey had 15 calls by 11.30am, and Kent Police reportedly had a large number of calls.
