Villagers have gas restored

Extra Transco workers were brought in

Most of the 1,000 Northamptonshire villagers who found themselves without gas have now been reconnected.

On Friday morning gas company Transco said that only 50 properties were still without supplies.

Three villages - Woodford Halse, Chipping Warden and Byfield - were affected when contractors severed a main in Banbury on Tuesday.

Many villagers also lost electricity because electric heaters - used in the freezing weather - overloaded the grid.

The primary schools in Woodford Halse and Chipping Warden were reopened on Friday, although Byfield's primary school remains closed.