Homes across the Rossendale Valley lost their supply on 22 December after gas caught fire during repair work on a 500mm medium pressure main in Rawtenstall, Rossendale in Lancashire.
Over 300 National Grid engineers were drafted in from across the country and efforts continued round the clock throughout Christmas until supplies were finally restored to homes in Bacup, Waterfoot, Newchurch, Rawtenstall and Crawshawbooth.
In total, over 60,000 individual visits were made to homes and businesses to ensure gas supplies were restored safely and engineers were overwhelmed by the level of support they got from local people.
National Grid's Director of Operations Jon Butterworth said: "The people of Rossendale were absolutely fantastic and we can't thank them enough for the help they gave our engineers.
Engineers reported that they were being offered sandwiches and cups of tea and sherry and mince pies as they made their rounds, and many people were grateful and sympathetic that the engineers were sacrificing their own Christmas plans to get everyone re-connected.
We were fortunate to be able to get the vast majority of homes back on gas for Christmas but would like to take the opportunity to apologise for the disruption we inevitably caused to people and their plans for the festive season.
Letters have now been sent to homes and businesses affected explaining the arrangements for the payment of compensation. National Grid and Health and Safety Executive are working together on a full investigation of the incident.
Notes to editors - archive
National Grid is one of the largest investor-owned energy companies in the world and was named Responsible Business of the Year 2014 by Business in the Community. This accolade acknowledges all of our efforts in getting involve with the things that really matter to us and to society. We own and manage the grids that connect people to the energy they need, from whatever the source. In Britain and the north-eastern states of the US we run systems that deliver gas and electricity to millions of people, businesses and communities.
In Britain, we run the gas and electricity systems that our society is built on, delivering gas and electricity across the country. In the North Eastern US, we connect more than seven million gas and electric customers to vital energy sources, essential for our modern lifestyles.
National Grid in the UK:
- We own the high-voltage electricity transmission network in England and Wales, operating it across Great Britain
- We own and operate the high pressure gas transmission system in Britain
- Our gas distribution business delivers gas to 10.9 million homes and businesses
- We also own a number of related businesses including LNG importation, land remediation and metering
- National Grid manages the National Gas Emergency Service free phone line on behalf of the industry - 0800 111 999 (all calls are recorded and may be monitored).
- Our portfolio of other businesses is mainly concerned with infrastructure provision and related services where we can exploit our core skills and assets to create value. These businesses operate in areas such as Metering, Grain LNG Import, Interconnectors and Property. National Grid Carbon Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of National Grid. It undertakes Carbon Capture Storage related activities on behalf of National Grid.
Find out more about the energy challenge and how National Grid is helping find solutions to some of the challenges we face at www.nationalgridconnecting.com
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