Works need to be done on a main underground pipe in Whitechapel Road following a suspected gas leak.

Three buildings in the area were evacuated on Monday and National Grid said its engineers believe one of two major pipes running through the road needs repairing.

Some market stalls close to Whitechapel Tube station may have to close in the coming days.

Police and fire fighters were called at around 5.20pm on Monday to close the road and it was reopened half an hour later.

The emergency services had first been called out on Sunday night and evacuated premises as well as closed the road.

A spokeswoman for National Grid said: “On Sunday we did some work identifying a disused pipe believed to be the source of the leak.

“We were then called to the same vicinity to another report and we are in the process of tracing the gas escape to its source. There are two gas mains running down Whitechapel Road and we believe there’s a gas escape on one. We are talking to the market supervisor as we need to close some of the stalls.”

National Grid said the situation is being monitored.

Gas escaping outdoors does not pose the threat that it does in contained buildings, it said.