AN INVESTIGATION has been launched after two members of staff feared they had suffered carbon monoxide poisoning while working in a café.

The pair said a carbon monoxide detector went off twice in close succession at the Salt Marsh Café in Tywyn during the stormy weather earlier this month.

Fearing for their safety, the two members of staff rang NHS Direct concerned about symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning and were told to go to hospital where they were subsequently treated.

Gwynedd Council is looking into whether gas came from a wood-burning stove at the café bar in Market Hall.

Café owner Iain Patterson said the stove had all the required certification and told the Cambrian News that the heightened levels in carbon monoxide in the staff members’ blood may have been down to the fact that both were smokers.

“As far as we are concerned, none of our staff or customers were exposed to any harmful levels at any time, we need to make that very clear,” he said in a social media post.

Gwynedd Council confirmed it was investigating. A spokesperson said: “The council’s Public Protection Service is currently investigating an allegation of carbon monoxide poisoning stemming from the use of a multi-fuel stove within a commercial premises in Tywyn.”