Sheraton's health club evacuated after chemical leak

A new multi-million pound leisure centre at one of Edinburgh's leading hotels had to be evacuated after a chemical alert.

Firefighters raced to One, the Sheraton hotel's spa and health club, after an acid spillage was discovered yesterday afternoon.

Hydrochloric acid being stored in a plant room is thought to have leaked out and seeped onto a flight of stairs in the £12m complex.

All staff on duty and customers were led out of the building while Lothian and Borders Fire Brigade officers wearing special protective clothing cleaned up the spillage.

However the incident did not prove to be as serious as was first thought and no-one was injured as a result of the leak.

A spokeswoman for the fire brigade said between 10 and 15 litres of hydrochloric acid leaked out in the plant room but was easily contained using an absorbent.

"When we first got the call, around 1.30pm yesterday, it appeared to be quite serious incident but it only turned out to be a fairly small amount of acid that had leaked out," she said.

"The acid, which was apparently used for cleaning purposes, was actually evaporating into the air when we got there. No-one was hurt and there was no need for decontamination."

Brian Hunter, general manager at One, said: "It was only a minor leak, but we called out the emergency services as a precautionary measure and as part of our health and safety procedures. You'd always do the same when any kind of chemicals are spilled.

"We have around eight staff on duty at the time yesterday and six customers, all of whom were evacuated, but no-one was injured."