A construction company says a gas main that was damaged during building work at Bradford College was not on official records and had been undetected by scan surveys at the site.

Emergency repairs had to be carried by Northern Gas Works after the main blew at the building site in Great Horton Road on Thursday evening.

A spokesman for BAM, which is working on the construction of the college buildings, said yesterday: “While carrying out excavation for the new foundations we uncovered a gas main that was not shown on any Northern Gas Network records, nor had been evident on previous trail holes and subsequent on-site scan surveys prior to the excavation commencing.

“During the excavations the removal of spoil resulted in a cap to the main blowing off despite not being disturbed by our works.

“We immediately contacted Northern Gas Networks which was on site within 15 minutes. Safety is our number one priority and procedures were put in place so that there was no danger to the public or any operatives on site.”

A Bradford College spokesman said its health and safety team were on the scene within a few minutes and Northern Gas Networks confirmed the damage was minor and that there was no danger to staff, students or members of the public.