'Major incident' as thousands of Leicestershire homes affected by gas outages amid burst water main

A 'major incident' has been declared after gas outages in two Leicestershire villages have affected between 1,000 to 2,000 homes. Cadent Gas said it will take “considerable time” to resolve gas outages in Ratby and Kirby Muxloe after a water main burst.

Homes in the villages and surrounding areas have been left without gas after a “large volume” of water got into pipes. Residents in the two villages reported outages earlier today before Cadent Gas turned off the gas supply to the area.

Cadent said in a statement late Tuesday afternoon (January 30): "Cadent, National Grid, Severn Trent, Leicestershire Fire and Rescue, district and county council partners, the Red Cross and other partners have come together to keep residents safe. This evening, staff and volunteers from all agencies will visit the most vulnerable residents, to ensure that those who need extra help receive it."

READ MORE: Gas supply to Leicestershire villages cut off after water pipe bursts

Tom Purnell, Vice-Chair of the Leicestershire Resilience Forum, said: "We have declared a major incident this afternoon because of the loss of gas to parts of the county.

"Our key advice is to avoid the area and if you live in an affected property, to keep in touch with Cadent's website. Wait for an engineer to turn off your gas supply.

Richard Sansom, Network Director for Cadent in the East Midlands, aid: "Our focus is on the most vulnerable and supporting those who need extra help with heating and cooking during this time. We are supplying affected residents with electrical appliances, but we're aware this will increase power usage. So, we're asking residents in the area to reduce demand on the National Grid this evening.

"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," he continued.

"We'll continue to communicate with all of those affected so that they understand what is happening, and what support they can receive whilst we carry out these works. We are also working closely with Severn Trent Water and other agencies."

Earlier today, Cadent said in a statement it will have to remove “every drop” from gas mains before it can safely reintroduce gas to the network. This means removing all the water from pipes into each property, gas meters, boilers and appliances.

Cadent warned the process could take some time. It said: “We first need to turn off supply at every impacted property, then remove all the water that flooded in, and only then can we safely reintroduce gas to the network. We will need to make a return visit to every property to turn supply back on and check everything is working okay.

“We know this is the last thing you’ll want to hear, but the scale of task means this is not going to be a quick resolution. This is going to take some considerable time – days, not hours."

“We promise we’ll work as fast as we safely can and maintain a big presence in the area.” The company has set up a dedicated centre at the Village Hall in Ratby to answer any questions residents have and posted a dedicated web page providing up-to-date advice.

Leicestershire County Council also announced the emergency road closure of Main Street in Ratby for an anticipated period of six days, so Cadent can repair the burst mains. Cadent warned a number of road closures will happen so that repair works can take place and say partners will work together to alert residents in advance. Residents can view any road closures at: https://one.network/