Hundreds of homes in North Sheffield are still without heating or cooking facilities since a water main burst destroying a gas line last Friday.
At one stage 2,000 homes had been affected, and a week on many residents are still without gas, with some saying they haven’t had any communication from their Gas supplier.
Resident Renee Long, aged 40, only received updates because she had a friend who worked for the gas board.
She said: “Nobody was in touch. If I hadn’t known this lady we wouldn’t have been given any information”.
Ms Long and her family were forced to move out of their property into an Air BnB as the cold was affecting their ten-year-old son’s health.
Cadent Gas has said it will provide £65 compensation for every 24 hours that residents have had to spend without gas but Ms Long says this doesn’t come close to covering the cost of her temporary accommodation.
Authorities say they are working around the clock to resolve the issue. So far they have drained 600,000 litres of water and have 15 water tankers on the job.
Once the water has been fully cleared, gas can be returned to the approximately 500 homes which are still cut off.
Residents reported water leaking from gas meters, hobs, boilers and fires all of which will need to be cleaned and tested by a professional before they can be safely used again.
Cadent Gas says it is working closely with Northern Power Grid to make sure electricity is stable and extra support in the form of hot plates and heated blankets are available for those in need.
Sheffield City Council has declared the situation a ‘major incident’ which has also coincided with temperatures in Sheffield dropping below zero degrees.
Spokesperson for Cadent Gas, Stephanie Van Rosse, said: “We are looking after the most vulnerable customers, if they need any extra help we are there to help them.”
More updates to come.
