Stannington: Cause of flooded gas supply still unknown

How hundreds of thousands of litres of water from a burst pipe leaked into a Sheffield gas main had not yet been solved, a utility firm has said.

Residents in Stannington have been left without heating or cooking facilities for almost a week, with temperatures on Thursday dipping to -2C (28.4F).

Yorkshire Water said it was still unclear what had happened, but "getting people back on to gas" was a priority.

Cadent said it was confident gas would return for most by the weekend.

Up to 2,000 properties were initially thought to have been affected by the leak, which happened on Friday and which saw water gushing out of cookers and gas meters.

About 1,080 properties are still without gas nearly a week later.

Cadent Gas said 500 homes in Stannington should have supplies again on Thursday, with another 500 back on Friday.

The supplier said it hoped to restore gas to homes in nearby Malin Bridge on Saturday, with some homes also affected in the Hillsborough area of the city.

At an outdoor news conference in Stannington on Thursday, Neil Dewis, Yorkshire Water's director of water, said of the initial leak: "We think it happened after a burst main where water has got into the gas network.

"At the moment, we don't know exactly how it got into the area, but that's what we will investigate.

"We're prioritising getting people back on to gas at the moment," he added.

During the conference, Mr Dewis was confronted by one angry resident who accused the firm of "not listening" to those affected.

Lyndsey Hudson, who found her house flooding after the water main burst, said: "Cadent have been brilliant. Northern Powergrid have been amazing on our road. But, nobody from Yorkshire Water."

Mrs Hudson added that the firm "haven't take it seriously".

Mr Dewis apologised and asked for Mrs Hudson's contact details to discuss the matter further.

Responding to a question about residents' fears about possible underinvestment in the system causing water main bursts, Mr Dewis said the affected gas system was an asbestos-cement main from 1970.

He added that the firm had invested £15m in Sheffield in a bid to reduce leaks.

Richard Sansom, Cadent's network director for East Midlands, said he was confident Stannington would be "back on gas" by the weekend.

However, he said that the firm was still extracting a large amount of water from the network in the Malin Bridge and Hillsborough areas and a small number of affected households in those parts of the city might not be reconnected as quickly.

Engineers in Stannington were pumping out supply pipes to customers' properties and clearing water out of appliances, Mr Sansom said.

"We've pumped all of the water out of the mains and services. We've changed meters - we've got 300 meters changed in the area."

Mr Dewis, from Yorkshire Water, said once gas supplies had been reconnected, the firm would then work with Cadent, "looking at compensation for customers and any loss adjustment that needs to be made".

Energy Minister Graham Stuart tweeted: "I am grateful to everyone working hard to restore supplies across Sheffield.

"I recognise the challenges this places on consumers. Support is being provided to vulnerable customers at this difficult time."

Follow BBC Yorkshire on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].