Stannington gas incident: Family forced to leave home after electricity outages

A family has been forced to leave their home after their gas and electricity were shut off following a burst water main.

The gas network in parts of South Yorkshire was flooded on Friday, 2 December, leaving around 2,000 homes still without any gas supply in what the council has now declared a "major incident".

Homes across Stannington and Hillsborough are now also experiencing power outages as the network becomes overloaded, prompting electrical company Northern Powergrid to urge people to limit their use of electrical appliances.

Kelly Hood, a mother from Stannington, said her family were unable to stay at their home after experiencing "15 power cuts in 24 hours" during a time when they already had no gas supply.

She told ITV News: "We've had no gas since Saturday, and since Monday at 4.30pm we have had various lengths of electric power cuts - anything from one minute to four hours."

She added that her family have been left "unable to even use electric heaters" and that she will have to stay elsewhere until the situation is resolved due to the cold weather.

A spokesperson for Northern Powergrid said they are asking customers to "only heat essential rooms" and for owners of electric cars to consider "temporarily using local electrical charging points rather than their home charging point".

The leak has now been stopped and 600,000 litres of water have already been pumped out of the network, but gas company Cadent said it still could be some time until all homes get their supply back.

Olivia Blake, Labour MP for Sheffield Hallam, has said that Yorkshire Water needs to "take responsibility" as thousands of people are still without gas since the leak happened.

She told ITV News: "I was very clear with Yorkshire Water that people need to be seeing them on the ground, helping Cadent.

"We need to know from Yorkshire Water what happened and why. We need to understand their investment into that area and if more could have been done to prevent such an issue happening."

A spokesperson for Yorkshire Water said: "Unfortunately, on this occasion, the burst water main has impacted gas pipes that were laid nearby.

"Cadent, with the support of our teams and service partners, are working around the clock to pump water out of the gas pipes and ensure it is safe to reconnect supply to customers properties.

"The coordinated approach has allowed more than a quarter of properties to be reconnected, with teams working as quickly as possible to reconnect the rest."

They added that burst pipes "can happen for a number of reasons" and that the pipe in Stannington "hadn't burst in almost a decade".

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know.