Wednesday 29 January – 6.30pm update
Gas is now available in Herne Bay following damage to our network by a third party on Saturday 25 January.
Our engineers have worked tirelessly over recent days to restore gas supplies. Almost all affected properties have now been reconnected. If you were out when our engineer called, please contact our 24-hour Customer Service team on 0800 912 1717 and we will arrange for an engineer to revisit as soon as possible.
Our customer centre at St Peters Church, Herne Drive CT6 7SH will remain open until 9pm today if you have any questions or concerns, or require reconnection.
You will receive compensation for the time you were without your gas supply, as agreed with the energy regulator Ofgem. If you’re without gas for more than 24 hours, you will receive £70 compensation per household for each complete 24-hour period you had no gas.
This compensation is paid through your supplier and will appear as a credit on your next bill. There is no need to apply for this as it’s paid automatically. If you’re not sure who your supplier is, you can find their name on the top of your gas bill. It usually takes four to five weeks for your compensation to be processed. However, it can sometimes take up to three months to show on your account, depending on your supplier’s billing cycle.
Thank you to the local community for your patience and understanding throughout this incident.
This is our final update.
Wednesday 29 January – 9.30am update
Our engineers remained on site late last night to turn on gas supplies.
We’ve made good progress and the majority of homes have now been restored. However, some properties are still without gas because we were unable to gain access when we visited.
If your supply is not restored yet, please phone us on 0800 912 1717, or visit us at the customer centre, at St Peters Church, Herne Drive CT6 7SH, which is open until 9pm today.
Please do not try to turn your own gas supply back on.
We’ll post another update at around 7pm today.
Tuesday 28 January – 7pm update
Our engineers have continued their efforts this afternoon and we now have 382 homes to go. We'll remain on site this evening to visit more properties to restore supplies.
If you were out or unavailable when we called, please contact the number on the card we left to rearrange an engineer visit.
If we haven't visited you yet, thank you for your patience, and an engineer will be with you as soon as possible to reconnect your gas supply and carry out safety checks.
Our next update will be at 9am tomorrow.
Tuesday 28 January – 12.30pm update
We’re continuing to restore gas supplies in Herne Bay and we’ve made great progress overnight, with 690 properties to go.
We’re focusing on restoring the supplies of our vulnerable customers on the Priority Services Register first and our engineers are continuing to visit properties as quickly as we can to carry out vital safety checks.
Our customer centre at St Peters Church is open today until 9pm for anyone who has questions or needs support. Portable heaters and hotplates are available at the centre for customers on the Priority Services Register.
Our next update will be at around 7.30pm today.
Monday 27 January – 8pm update
Our engineers are continuing to restore gas supplies to customers in Herne Bay and have so far reconnected 850 properties to our gas network. This includes two local schools which are able to reopen tomorrow morning.
This evening, we’re focusing on reconnecting our most vulnerable customers, including those on the Priority Services Register. We now know that 1,750 properties have been affected and not approximately 1,200 properties as outlined in our earlier update. This is due to a number of customers who self-isolated and have now been confirmed off. We do not expect this number to significantly rise again.
Visitors to our customer centre at St Peters Church have asked when their gas will be restored – please be assured that we’re working hard to restore everyone’s supplies as quickly as possible but we are unable to give timescales for specific addresses. Please do not attempt to restore your own gas supplies – for everyone’s safety, please wait for a visit from one of our engineers.
Our customer centre remains open until 9pm tonight and will reopen tomorrow from 9am to 9pm.
Our next update will be at 12.30pm on Tuesday 28 January.
Monday 27 January - 1pm update
Having completed the repair to the gas main that was subject to third party damage, our engineers have been continuing to restore supplies to customers in Herne Bay.
We now know that the area impacted by the incident on Saturday affects around 1,200 properties. We are, however, making excellent progress so far, having visited around 400 of these since last night.
We are also carrying out safety checks at homes in the wider area.
We have brought in additional resources including colleagues from all across our southern patch including Portsmouth, Oxford, London and Aldershot. This will help us visit as many properties as possible today, prioritising those who are vulnerable.
Colleagues from our customer service team are also on the ground at our centre in St Peters Church. Please do visit them if you have any questions or need any support. Portable heaters and hotplates are available at the centre for customers on the Priority Services Register.
Please DO NOT turn on your gas supply – our engineers will be visiting every affected property to do this for you for safety reasons. We will need to restore supplies strategically to ensure the security and integrity of the network. You may notice neighbouring streets or areas being switched on before you, but please be patient, we will get to your home as soon as possible.
Our next update will be at 8pm.
Sunday 26 January - 7.30pm updates
Key updates:
- Repairs to the pipe that was damaged by a third party yesterday are now complete.
- Our engineering teams will begin restoring gas supplies in some locations in Herne Bay CT6, from this evening.
- Heaters and hotplates are once again available at St Peters Church for anyone on the priority services register.
- Households without gas for more than 24 hours will receive compensation.
Our engineers have now completed repairs to the pipeline that was damaged by a third party on Saturday. As a result we will be starting to turn gas supplies back on in some locations in Herne Bay CT6 from this evening. We are also continuing to carry out checks throughout the affected areas of network.
What this means for you?
Please DO NOT turn on your gas supply – our engineers will be visiting every affected property to do this for you for safety reasons. We will need to restore supplies strategically to ensure the security and integrity of the network. You may notice neighbouring streets or areas being switched on before you, but please be patient, we will get to your home as soon as possible.
Compensation
You will receive compensation for the time you were without your gas supply, as agreed with the energy regulator Ofgem. If you’re without gas for more than 24 hours, you will receive £70 compensation per household and for each complete 24-hour period you had no gas. This compensation is paid through your energy supplier and will appear as a credit on your next bill. There is no need to apply for this as it’s paid automatically.
Customer centre opening hours
Heaters and hotplates are once again available at St Peters Church for anyone on the priority services register. We'll be at the church until 9pm today and then back again at 9am tomorrow. Please visit us if you need support.
Our engineers will continue working until late tonight and then return to resume work first thing in the morning. It’s too early to say how long it will take to complete all the affected supplies, but we’ll keep you updated on this page.
Our next update will be posted here tomorrow morning.
Sunday 26 January - 3.50pm update
Due to high demand we currently only have hot plates remaining at our customer centre in St Peters Church, and all portable heaters have been given out to customers. While we await another delivery of heating and cooking appliances, we are prioritising the remaining hot plates for our customers registered on the Priority Services Register.
We will update this page as soon as further stock is available for collection at St Peters Church, Herne Drive, Herne Bay, CT6 7SH.
Sunday 26 January - 12 noon update
Residents in the Cornwall Road area of Herne Bay will notice increased activity on the site where a third party damage occurred on our network yesterday. Our work to repair the network is underway but still too early to say at this stage how long it will take to complete.
We’ve opened up a temporary customer centre at St Peters Church, Herne Dr, Herne Bay CT6 7SH. Please drop in here if you wish to speak to us. If you are elderly, disabled, chronically sick or have young children or other special needs, we have portable electric appliances available for collection at the church for cooking and heating. Please note we have very limited parking on site.
We're requesting customers in the following roads who believe that their gas supply is affected by this issue to report ‘no gas’ by calling 0800 111 999.
Every customer in these roads should also ensure all gas appliances and equipment are turned off as a safety precaution. This includes the emergency control valve (ECV) by their gas meter. Please do this whether or not your supply is affected. We are visiting all affected streets to carry out safety checks throughout today.
How to turn off your gas supply at the meter
For your safety and ours, we need your help. Please follow these four steps to turn off your gas supply at the meter.
1. Turn off all your gas appliances before you try to turn off your gas supply.
2. Turn off your gas supply at the meter. Your meter could be under the stairs, in a cupboard or in a meter box outside your property. Give the ECV (a spanner-style handle) a quarter turn in either direction so it's at a right-angle with the gas pipe. There may be a yellow tape on the pipe to guide you.
3. Display the appropriate label on your front door or window if you are able to. This lets us know whether you've turned off your supply, need help to turn off your supply or if you don't have a gas meter. Make sure the label is facing outwards for us to see.
4. If you smell gas at any point, please call the national gas emergency service on 0800 111 999.
For your safety, you must not turn your gas back on until we tell you to do so.
Our next update will be provided later today.
Saturday 25 January - 11.20pm update
Gas supplies to several hundred properties in the Cornwall Road area have been affected after our network was damaged by a third party earlier today.
Our engineers remain on site investigating the extent of the damage and establishing the required repairs to our affected gas main.
Every customer in these roads should also ensure all gas appliances and equipment are turned off as a safety precaution. This includes the emergency control valve (ECV) by their gas meter. Please do this whether or not your supply is affected. We are visiting all affected streets to carry out safety checks throughout today.
How to turn off your gas supply at the meter
For your safety and ours, we need your help. Please follow these four steps to turn off your gas supply at the meter.
1. Turn off all your gas appliances before you try to turn off your gas supply.
2. Turn off your gas supply at the meter. Your meter could be under the stairs, in a cupboard or in a meter box outside your property. Give the ECV (a spanner-style handle) a quarter turn in either direction so it's at a right-angle with the gas pipe. There may be a yellow tape on the pipe to guide you.
3. Display the appropriate label on your front door or window to let us know whether you've turned off your supply, need help to turn off your supply or if you don't have a gas meter. Make sure the label is facing outwards for us to see.
4. If you smell gas at any point, please call the national gas emergency service on 0800 111 999.
For your safety, you must not turn your gas back on until we tell you to do so.
If you are elderly, disabled, chronically sick or have young children or other special needs, we have portable electric appliances available for cooking and heating. These can be obtained by visiting our temporary customer centre at St Peters Church, Herne Dr, Herne Bay CT6 7SH..
We appreciate it's not easy being without your gas supply and we thank affected Herne Bay residents for your ongoing support.
Our next update will be published in the morning.
Saturday 25 January - 8pm
We're investigating reports of lost gas supplies in the Cornwall Road area of Herne Bay.
Our engineers are on site establishing the extent of the issue and the required network repairs.
It's difficult to estimate how long it will take to restore supplies, but we'll be updating this webpage with information as it becomes available.
If you smell gas, or have concerns about gas safety, please call the National Gas Emergency Number on 0800 111 999.