RUSSIANS took iodine and caused traffic jams as they rushed to leave the proximity of a Chernobyl-style power station on the Gulf of Finland amid fears officials were covering up a radioactive leak.

The panic followed the emergence of pictures showing a cloud of vapour pouring from Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant, some 50 miles from St Petersburg.

The authorities insisted that the was no radioactive leakage after a "defect" which caused a steam emission from the turbine section of the station - the most westerly in Russia - but people did not believe the "no danger" claim.

Radio Svoboda reported that in the wake of the incident on Friday locals in Sosnovy Bor started withdrawing money from their credit cards.

They said locals were in panic mode despite statements from officials that the radiation level was normal.

People had more trust in the ecologists who prepared their own statement.