A STRONG smell of petrol fumes, which caused alarm in Darlington at the weekend, remains a mystery following Sunday's deluge.

The Cricketers public house was evacuated when firefighters received a call-out late last Friday evening. The smell of fumes was very strong in the car park and was traced back up Haughton Road, where drains were flushed out.

On Saturday, businesses including Allied Carpets, the Glittering Star and the Greyhound public house started calling the council's environmental services department.

By then the Environment Agency had both been alerted and inspections were made in the Valley Street commercial area and around an outfall into the River Skerne..

A spokeswoman for Northumbrian Water said: "There was a definite smell but unfortunately we were unable to trace the source. We were looking for petrol or diesel and the smell was mainly in the drainage system.

"We obviously wanted to find a cause or a culprit but Sunday's big storm meant we were left drawing blanks."

A spokesman for the Environment Agency said its concern was that the Skerne might have been contaminated, but that did not appear to be the case.

* Stormy Sunday: see page 7.

Missing dogs

A GAMEKEEPER is appealing for information about two missing dogs. On Saturday, Peter Hugill's green Mitsubishi pick-up truck holding his three working dogs in a wooden travelling box was stolen from Crathorne Estate, between 4pm and 5pm.

On Monday, his black Labrador, Cindy, was recovered from Albert Hill industrial estate in Darlington. She was drenched and distressed. The box was also found.

However, Mr Hugill's other two dogs and his truck are still missing. The dogs, a golden Labrador called Trudy and a black and white small springer spaniel called Pip, are both bitches and friendly.

Anyone with any information about the dogs is asked to call Mr Hugill on 01642 701119