Gas company hopes to start restoring supplies later

SGN said it had "some complex engineering tasks to complete" before reconnecting gas supplies

A gas company has said it is on track to begin restoring gas supplies later after a major outage.

About 2,180 properties in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, were affected by what Southern Gas Networks (SGN) described as an "unplanned interruption" at about 18:00 BST on Tuesday.

The company said teams had arrived back on site early on Thursday morning and were continuing "to progress well".

SGN added that it would issue another update by 20:30 BST.

SGN said its customer centre at Woodstock Community Hall would remain open until 21:00

SGN said it had "some complex engineering tasks to complete" before gas supplies could be restored to the affected properties.

"We are hoping to begin revisiting homes to reconnect gas supplies later today," a company spokesperson added.

The outage also affected some businesses in the town, with one brasserie owner saying he anticipated losing "thousands and thousands of pounds".

SGN said all affected properties had been visited but encouraged people to call its customer service line in case they had missed a visit from its engineers.

It thanked residents for their "continued patience and understanding".

It added that its customer centre, which was set up at Woodstock Community Hall, would remain open until 21:00.