SHOP sellers turned street sellers when a gas main fractured at 6am on Friday.
National Grid were called to the scene and the location of the leak was identified.
Staff at High Street News, adjacent to the leak, were immediately evacuated as police closed the High Street to traffic.
No smoking signs were set in place and eight shops including Wombwell Pharmacy were closed for business.
A member of staff said: "Luckily there wasn't too much disruption and we were still able to get people's prescriptions out to them.
"It is always difficult when shops shut as they provide a service, especially when medication is involved. Other shops took produce out on to the street but this wasn't really possible for us. It was dealt with well."
Works were carried out on the pipe and the road was re opened at around 4pm.
