'Unbearable' smell during town's gas pipe repairs

Ian Fearn said he felt residents were "just ignored"

Residents have complained about the ongoing smell and lack of communication since repairs to their town's main gas pipe began more than a month ago.

Gas company Cadent said the pipe in Diss, Norfolk, was damaged by agricultural machinery on 11 September and the persistent smell was caused by having to vent it to maintain supply to the town's 5,000 homes and businesses.

It said it had been carrying out "incredibly complex" work and that repairs would continue for the next few weeks.

Ian Fearn, 68, who lives about 200yds (180m) from the site, said the smell was sometimes "unbearable" yet there had been "no apologies, no notifications".

Rebecca Whatley said the smell made her feel sick and irritable

Retired teacher Rebecca Whatley said she could detect the gas smell inside her home, with the odour also drifting into the town centre, depending on the wind direction.

"I am annoyed; I want fresh air and I'm very curious why nobody is telling anybody anything," said the 76-year-old.

Jim Bootman walks with his dog near where Cadent is carrying out the work

Jim Bootman, also 76, said he was concerned about the volume of gas being released from the site off Heywood Road.

"We live a quarter of a mile away and we can smell it in our garden," he added.

"It amazes me that there isn't a system to fix the problem quicker than this.

"It's an unpleasant smell, and the amount of gas that's been vented must be equivalent to a number of winters worth for Diss because that is a mainstream pipeline."

He added: "There is a complete lack of communication - I looked on the Cadent website and couldn't find anything about it at all."

Cadent said it expected to be on site for a few weeks

Cadent said its team was immediately dispatched to the site on 11 September to make the area safe.

"This is an incredibly complex emergency repair; it requires specialist equipment and materials that need to be sourced and delivered to site," a spokesman added.

"This is not only to complete the repair, but also to future-proof the pipe.

"We expect to be on site for the next few weeks and will issue an update once the repair is complete."

It said it could not estimate how much gas had been leaked, but the pressure had been reduced in the pipe to limit the release into the atmosphere.