Thieves risked causing a huge gas explosion after they ripped copper piping connected to the mains supply off walls of houses.

Firefighters were called to properties in Linton Road and nearby Holmesdale Gardens, Hastings, after neighbours smelled gas leaks.

Police believe the thefts are down to the high price currently being offered for copper by scrap merchants.

Workers from gas company Scotia were called to seal leaks at two flats in Holmesdale Gardens and a house in Linton Road during the early hours of Saturday.

PC Phillip Edwards said: "It's very dangerous and we are presuming they were all taken at the same time."

An East Sussex Fire and Rescue spokeswoman said: "We were called on Saturday at 1.50am and 3.45am to a gas leak.

We went along and isolated the gas supply and turned it off."

Police arrived and discovered the copper pipes coming out of meters had been ripped off the wall and bent and twisted off the meters.

A spokeswoman for company Scotia, which has responsibility for the gas network in the South, said: "There has been a recent spate of problems happening to households where the copper pipe that comes out of the gas meter has been ripped off the wall to be sold for profit.

"Our involvement is that we go out to make everything safe as the pipes are owned by the householders. We are only called because it's an uncontrolled gas leak as the pipes are ripped off the walls.

"It's an extremely dangerous situation because they are just ripping the pipes off the wall.

"It just takes somebody to throw a cigarette away or smoke near it for it to be an issue of safety."

The latest theft of piping comes after a recent spate of copper theft across the county.

On Tuesday night last week £2,500 worth of copper piping was stolen from extension building works at Marshlands School, Hailsham, after a rear window was left unlocked.

Last Thursday a house in Town House Gardens, Market Street, Hailsham, was broken into, with power tools and piping stolen, totalling £11,800.

Plumbing equipment as well as more piping worth £900 was stolen on September 30 and power tools worth £600 were taken from a site on the promenade, in Peacehaven.

More plumbing equipment was stolen from a house being built in The Lookout, also in Peacehaven, on the same night. Mixer taps and piping to the value of £2,000 and power tools worth £800 were stolen.

Companies currently pay about £2.50 per kilogram for average household copper such as the kind found in piping.

Two years ago the price was just 80p.