Firefighters responding to a suspected gas leak in an apartment block instead found the smell was coming from durian fruit.

Douglas crews were called to Spectrum apartments, Central promenade around 4am Sunday to investigate a reported gas leak only to find the source of the odour was durian fruit.

The fruit gives off a pungent smell and can waft some distance. Crews checked the corridors, underground car park, and various apartments with gas detection equipment but the readings were showing normal.

Grown across tropical south-east Asia, durian is known for its bitter-sweet flavours, but the pungent produce can smell like rotting rubbish – or in this instance a gas leak.

Similar fire service call-outs have made the news in the USA and Australia.