Tonight:
-5°c
750 homes freeze as gas supply is cut off
Peter Dominiczak21 Dec 2009
Thousands of residents in north London have been left without heating and cooking in the freezing conditions after their gas supply failed.
About 750 homes in East Barnet faced a second day without gas after water from a burst main got into the gas pipes, cutting off the flow in the early hours yesterday.
Hundreds of people queued outside a school where a team of volunteers handed out fan heaters. Supplier National Grid said engineers spent the night pumping water out of the system. It is believed homes in the area could be without gas for at least one more day but residents fear it could last until Christmas Day.
Kay Skinner, 61, said: "This whole mess has not been handled in the right way. There are very elderly people in the street who were not informed about what was going on. Now there are all sorts of rumours going around. People have been saying we might even not have any gas until Christmas, which would be a complete disaster.
"My husband Victor is recovering from pneumonia and this is exactly what he doesn't need at the moment. If it goes on much longer, it will be a real struggle." Louise MacDonald, 36, a beauty consultant, said she is struggling to keep her 10-month-old baby Harley warm.
She said: "Harley is far too young to go through nights without any heating. We've got one heater and we are having to move it from room to room. We might have to make other arrangements for Christmas. We were supposed to have family visiting us but I'm worried it might be ruined now."
Vince Prati, 46, who works for Transport for London, said his wife Julie and children Emily, 18 and Louis, 20, are all struggling with no hot water and no way to cook their meals. He said: "Luckily we have a couple of fires in the house so at least we won't freeze."
Paul Hanafin from National Grid, said it was too early to say when gas supplies will be restored, adding: "We are working hard to ensure that residents have their gas back as quickly as possible. We appreciate this is a difficult time for residents, but we ask them to bear with us."
More than 1,000 homes in Caddington, Luton, were also left without gas after a failure. The Met Office says the cold weather will last through the week, with freezing temperatures at night and snow showers.
Reader views (3)
I was one of the homes affected by having no gas supply for a week over christmas. I have not heard anything about how and when I will receive compensation. Since the repair, my supply has not been back to normal. the temperature of my hot water and therefore the central heatinmg is below what it used to be. This is proving a problem. I was told that the pressure in my boiler had been affected and it needsto be seeb ti. I do not see why I should pay to have this done, I would request that someone is sent from your office to sort this out for nmee. Look forward to your rply
- Viv Daniels, East barnet Herts englnd, 08/01/2010 20:29
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I have gas heating however I keep a couple of electric heaters just in case "something" happens to the gas supply, clearly people with children or families of the elderly should think "what happens if the gas goes off" ?
- Mike M, Bedford England, 21/12/2009 14:43
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I am affected by this but unlike Mrs Skinner I believe the National Grid have done all they could. We were informed relatively quickly that heaters and hot plates were available and being opposite the school used for emergency contact, I can say that at least three large lorries delivered further supplies into the night.
It is inconvenient but it is not always possible to lay blame, accidents happen.
- Tracy Williams, East Barnet, 21/12/2009 13:59
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