A GAS cloud from France has reached Dorset.

The county's Local Resilience Forum Warning and Informing Group says the gas cloud, which has crossed the Channel because of strong easterly winds, does not present a health risk.

The smell of gas has been reported in Weymouth and is thought to be caused by the accidental discharge of gas stenching agent Mercaptan from a factory in Rouen.

Members of the public have made calls to the emergency services and to gas companies reporting the smell.

The smell is the strongest across the coastal towns of Dorset and other southern counties.

Gas transporter Transco is investigating and has received a number of similar calls.

Although emergency services such as the fire and rescue services in affected areas will assess all gas-smell-related calls in case they are not linked, Transco is leading on this event.

The advice from Transco is that this agent release does not present any health risks, the Dorset Warning and Informing Group says.