Ratby: Major incident after homes left without heating

Locals have queued to collect temporary heaters at Ratby Village Hall

A major incident has been declared as up to 2,000 homes were left without gas in Leicestershire.

The properties in Ratby have been affected after a pipe was flooded by a burst water main on Tuesday.

The major incident was declared at 17:30 GMT, with agencies attending the scene and roads being closed off.

Gas company Cadent says engineers are working to restore gas supplies "as quickly as possible", however outages are expected to continue for days.

Leicestershire Resilience Forum - a group of local councils and emergency services - has declared the major incident, saying staff and volunteers are currently in attendance.

It said fire crews, district and county council partners and the Red Cross have all been mobilised to the area.

Vice-Chair of the Leicestershire Resilience Forum, Tom Purnell, said: "Our focus is on the most vulnerable and supporting those who need extra help with heating and cooking during this time."

Temporary heaters, socks and blankets are being handed out to those without gas

Cadent said that between 1,500 and 2,000 homes in Ratby and Kirby Muxloe had been affected.

A support hub has been set up at Ratby Village Hall where the residents can collect fan heaters, blankets and socks.

Mo Loft, chairman of Ratby Community Library, says the building, which is used as a warm space, has no heating.

"Some really rely on us to be open," the 72-year-old said.

"It's a great community. They have all come together."

Richard Sansom, network director for Cadent in the East Midlands, said: "We are grateful for everyone's patience whilst we work to resolve this incident. I would encourage everybody to keep checking our website for any further updates which we will post as soon as we have them."

Water company Severn Trent is also working at the scene.

A spokesperson said: "Whilst we will be working to understand what's happened, our first priority is to make sure our network is back to normal, and that we continue to support Cadent."