Gas failure cuts villages' supply

Engineers have staged a major operation to reconnect 2,000 residents in four East Yorkshire villages.

Pipeline pressure problems hit supplies to thousands of houses in Burstwick, Keyingham, Ottringham and Thorngumbald on Monday night.

Gas pipeline company Transco said it had been forced to turn off supplies to about 700 homes on safety grounds.

By Tuesday afternoon half the homes had been reconnected and it was hoped to have the rest on supply by evening.

Pressure drop

A Transco spokeswoman said the problem was first reported at about 1700 GMT on Monday and "escalated in the middle of the night".

"At first we did not realise how many people had been affected but since about 0230 GMT we have had engineers going round all the houses in the four villages.

"Some people lost supply because a drop in pressure caused air to enter the system, others we had to cut off because we could not raise them last night to check their supply.

"We have pulled in engineers from all over the country to get round these four villages as quickly as we can."

Unusual incident

The cause of the problem, which is being investigated, is believed to be a failure at a local pressure reduction station (known as a governor).

This transfers high-pressure gas in the grid to a lower pressure for domestic supply.

The spokeswoman said an incident of this scale was "unusual" because back-up systems would normally prevent widespread loss of supply.

She stressed there was "no danger to anyone, but it is very inconvenient for those affected".