Five workers were taken to hospital after a gas leak at British Steel's Scunthorpe plant on Tuesday morning, prompting a large emergency response and setting off alarms that could be heard across the town.

East Midlands Ambulance Service said it received the call at 9.32am on Tuesday 10 November. It sent two paramedics in solo response cars and four ambulances, supported on scene by a duty commander, and took five patients to Scunthorpe General Hospital.

British Steel said six colleagues received treatment from its on-site teams and the emergency services after what it described as a “localised incident” at the site. Five were then taken to hospital for further support and monitoring. The company later confirmed that all five had been discharged from medical care relating to the event.

Blast furnace area affected

Reports said the incident took place in the blast furnace area of the works on Brigg Road, affecting six employees and triggering the site's containment alarms. Staff had stopped the leak by the time Humberside Fire and Rescue arrived, according to BBC News reporting of the incident.

A British Steel spokesman said: “Following a localised incident at our Scunthorpe site earlier today, six colleagues received treatment from our on-site teams and emergency services. Subsequently, five of these colleagues were taken to hospital for further support and monitoring.”

The spokesman added: “All five employees have been subsequently discharged from medical care relating to the event. The incident was brought under control by our on-site teams, and we thank the emergency services for their support. An investigation is now under way and normal operations have resumed.”

Investigation under way

An investigation into the cause of the incident is now under way. No further details have been released about the nature of the gas involved, and the workers have not been named.

The Scunthorpe works is Britain's last plant making primary steel from iron ore and coking coal, and its future has been the subject of intense political attention. The Government took control of the plant in April 2025 under emergency legislation after its owner, Jingye, decided to close it, with the business reported at the time to be losing around £700,000 a day.

Ministers intervened to keep the site's two blast furnaces running while a long-term future for the plant was sought. British Steel later halted plans to make up to 2,700 workers redundant after the Government took control and secured emergency supplies of raw materials.

Tuesday's incident is the latest in a series of safety scares at the Brigg Road site, which employs thousands of people in North Lincolnshire. Residents reported hearing the site's alarms sounding across Scunthorpe on Tuesday morning as fire crews and ambulances arrived.

British Steel said it would provide further information once its investigation had established what happened. It also praised staff members for their reactions during the incident.