Gas-leak scare traced to durian in Lancashire town
Durian fruit mistaken for a gas leak prompts a response from a gas company and police in Lytham, before investigators confirm the odor originated with the fruit.
A gas-leak scare in Lytham, Lancashire, was traced to the odor of the durian fruit after residents reported a strong, gas-like smell on Sept. 16, prompting a response from a Cadent gas engineer and on-site police.
An engineer arrived at Strongs Fruit and Veg on the town’s busy high street around 1 p.m., after residents raised concerns about a foul odor emanating from the area. Store staff Wai Peng Cheng, 51, and Candy Pooi Kuan Lam, 46, said they hadn’t called for service themselves. “We saw a gas engineer pull up in front of the shop at around 1 p.m. and he went into the charity shop next door,” Wai Peng recalled. “About an hour later, he tried the body care shop on the other side before coming inside Strongs.” The workers noted that the engineer only realized the source upon observing the fruit.
The source of the odor turned out to be durian, a spiky fruit that is prized across Southeast Asia for its sweet, custardy flavor. The store had received a delivery earlier that week and displayed the durians for around $30 a pound. After examining the area, the engineer determined there was no gas leak and he left around 4 p.m. The episode drew several police officers to the scene, and the shop staff said the moment was more amusing than alarming.
Durian is often called the king of fruit, but its scent has earned notorious comparisons to socks or sewage, leading to bans from some hotels and rail cars across Southeast Asia. Atlas Obscura has chronicled the fruit’s pungent odor and its global reputation. In lighter crosswinds of the palate, a New York City coffee shop has even experimented with a durian-flavored latte, illustrating the fruit’s polarizing presence in global cuisine.
The incident in Lytham highlights how a strong smell can trigger widespread concern—even when no hazard exists. With the gas check showing no leak, residents and shop workers were able to return to normal business, leaving the origin of the odor to a single, decidedly unusual fruit. The episode has become a quirky local memory and a reminder of durian’s well-documented notoriety around the world.
