Stannington: Major incident declared as homes still without gas

Up to 2,000 properties were affected when the water main burst on Friday

A council has declared a major incident as hundreds of homes in Sheffield wait for their gas supply to be restored.

Residents in Stannington have been left without heating or cooking facilities since Friday when more than 400,000 litres of water from a burst pipe leaked into the gas main.

Up to 2,000 properties were thought to have been affected, Cadent Gas said.

Sheffield council leader Terry Fox said disruption would last "at least until the end of the week, maybe longer".

He said declaring a major incident meant the authority would now be "better able to coordinate the overall response".

• Up to 2,000 homes still without gas after flood

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Mr Fox also said the incident had "progressed", adding: "With a colder spell due in the coming days it is important we and other organisations across the city collaborate to ensure all the residents affected are provided with the support they require, especially the most vulnerable."

He said the authority would be able to call on more support if it was needed.

So far 400,000 litres of water have been pumped out of the gas main

Speaking on Wednesday afternoon in Stannington, Mr Fox added: "We are continuing to pump out water in the pipeline but more importantly we are now actually getting to those people who are elderly and vulnerable, and the list is growing."

On Tuesday, Yorkshire Water stated the leak had been fixed, while Cadent Gas said engineers remained on site draining water from the system.

Stephanie van Rosse, from Cadent, said about a quarter of the 2,000 properties affected have now had their gas supply restored.

She said the company had brought in equipment and staff from across the country to help but there was "still a lot of water being pumped out".

Councillor Terry Fox, Sheffield City Council leader, says problems have "escalated" since the weekend in terms of the scale of the work

She said while the mains was clear, work was underway to remove water from the pipes leading into people's homes.

"It only takes a half an egg cup of water to block a service pipe," she said.

"It's a small amount of water, but it will stop the gas coming through."

Electricity company Northern Powergrid has asked people in the area to stagger the use of kettles and heat only essential rooms "to avoid the possibility of power cuts caused by overload".

It also asked owners of electric vehicles to charge them at a public power point rather than at home.

Cadent say the gas supply has been restored to about a quarter on those affected

Mike Gibbs, who lives in Stannington, said "the community response has been absolutely fantastic".

He said he had multiple disabilities which were badly affected by the cold.

"Somebody picked up on the Facebook group and fetched me a space heater," he said.

"So I'm desperately trying to keep the house warm, but I'm struggling. It's only 17C in the main living room and my heaters are struggling to get above that."

Mike Gibbs says he's been using a weighted blanket to stay warm, but described his home as an "ice box"

He praised the Cadent engineers who had visited his home, but said his gas boiler kept going out.

"I have to keep moving around and take my medication every three hours, which means coming out from under a weighted blanket into basically an ice box."

Jan Thornton said she was making hot drinks to try and keep warm.

"I am surprised how cold it gets upstairs," she said.

"I woke up at five o'clock in the morning absolutely frozen, even though I've got two duvets, two blankets and all the rest of the paraphernalia."

Jan and Richard Thornton are among those affected

Olivia Blake, the Labour MP for Sheffield Hallam, said she had asked the chancellor and other government departments for emergency funding and other assistance.

"I have further meetings planned with Yorkshire Water and I am in ongoing talks with the leadership of the council on getting support to residents," she said.

The incident happened late on Friday night with some residents reporting water pouring out of their cookers and gas meters.

Churches, community centres and pubs have offered hot drinks and a "warm space" for local residents.