Almost 400 homes have now been left without gas for over 60 hours after water made its way into gas pipes, making for a difficult weekend.
388 properties in Stanley, County Durham, had no gas or water on Friday (March 3) afternoon when water found its way into gas pipes in the area.
Engineers were working at the scene started extracting water from the gas pipes on Saturday (March 4) after Northumbrian Water repaired a leaking water main.
Food vouchers have been available for affected customers from the customer drop-in centre at St Mary’s RC Primary School.
Read more: Almost 400 homes without gas for more than 24 HOURS as water leak wreaks havoc
Northern Gas Networks has issued a statement on the ongoing situation.
A spokesperson for Northern Gas Networks said: “NGN engineers are today (Monday 6th March, 2023) continuing to restore gas supplies to properties in Stanley, County Durham.
“Work overnight saw a further 5,500 litres of water pumped out of the gas network, taking the total to 18,000 litres since 388 properties were affected on Friday 3rd March, 2023, by a leaking water main.
“38 affected properties in the Holly Hill area have so far had their supplies reconnected.”
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NGN operations manager Paul Meadley said: “This was a significant ingress of water and teams are continuing to work flat out to reconnect supplies on a rolling basis.
“We apologise to customers for the continuing inconvenience and thank them once again for their patience.”
380 properties are still affected in the areas of Kielder Drive, Wooler Drive, Dalby Way and Holly Hill Gardens West.
The drop-in centre has now been moved to the ‘warm hub’ at Craghead Village Hall in Middles Road, Craghead.
The centre is open to anyone who has been affected by the gas outage, and support from NGN staff Customer Care Team, hot plates, heaters, and food will be available.
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Customers needing extra support can call the team on 0800 040 7766 option 3 or email customercare@northerngas.co.uk.
Anyone who smells gas or suspects carbon monoxide should call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999.
If you are in any doubt about the authenticity of an engineer, please don’t hesitate to call us on 0800 040 7766.
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