Huncote: Fields declared safe again as methane gas levels fall

The fields behind Huncote Leisure Centre were popular with dog walkers

Part of a village which was closed off due to dangerous methane gas levels is to reopen.

Fields behind Huncote Leisure Centre in Leicestershire were fenced off in November 2021 when officials detected dangerous levels of the gas coming from a former landfill site.

Blaby District Council has been tracking gas levels since then and now says they have fallen to safe levels.

Access will be restored on Wednesday 16 August.

However the council said methane levels are still fluctuating on part of the site with BMX tracks so they will remain cordoned off.

The leisure centre, in Sports Field Lane, was built in the 1980s on land which had been used as a tip until around 1973.

Routine monitoring showed the presence of the flammable gas from buried decomposing rubbish which while not toxic, can be dangerous when trapped in confined spaces as oxygen is displaced.

'Frustrating'

The leisure centre itself was closed following the discovery although the building was deemed safe to reopen in October 2022.

So far the council has spent more than £500,000 making the area safe.

Further work at the rear and sides of the leisure centre are scheduled for later this year which, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said, could allow further reopening.

Blaby District Council leader Terry Richardson said: "I know many people have missed being able to use the site for walking their dogs and enjoying a stroll so it's great to be able to return a popular facility to the community.

"We continue to monitor the area and where gas levels remain higher than we'd like we will continue our remediation works to ensure the wider site can be reopened safely.

"We appreciate this situation is frustrating for residents and user groups and closure of the site has caused some disruption.

"However, the health, safety and well-being of our residents is our top priority and we hope people can understand we would not want to reopen areas of land before they can be used without harm."