Hampton Bishop

Cadent would like to thank the residents of Hampton Bishop, Prior’s Frome, Mordiford, Holme Lacy and Fownhope for their patience, understanding and kindness to our engineers during the recent loss of gas supply to your villages.

The handful of properties, still without gas, are where no one has been at home to let us in to complete the safety checks and safely turn their gas supply back on.  Engineers have visited every property multiple times and now have left a card with contact details on how to call us to restore gas to that property.
 
Our engineers will remain in the villages until 9pm tonight, to be on hand to quickly restore your gas supply.

Compensation
Under our Guaranteed Standards of Performance (GSOP), for an unplanned loss of gas, the following compensation arrangements apply:

• Properties used for domestic purposes only, will be entitled to £65 for every complete 24 hour period without gas up to the point at which we first visited the property to re-connect the supply.

 

• Properties used for non-domestic purposes only (e.g. factories) will be entitled to £105 for every complete 24 hour period without gas up to the point at which we first visited the property to re-connect the supply.

 
In addition to the above, we have decided to make a further payment of £65 (domestic) or £105 (non-domestic) to you as recognition of the disruption the loss of gas supply may have caused you personally.
 
Both of these payments will be paid automatically to your gas supplier whose name will be at the top of your gas bill, so you won’t need to do anything to claim your compensation. It can typically take a few weeks for your gas supplier to process the payment, so please don’t contact them straightaway if you don’t hear anything.

We will be sending a letter to all affected residents explaining the compensation in the coming week.

Thank you for your patience during this loss of gas supply incident to your community.
 
 

Our engineers are continuing to revisit properties in the affected villages.   The only properties still without gas, are those we have not been able to gain access, to complete the necessary safety checks.
 
If you are at home, we can get your gas back on gas today.  Our engineers have been revisiting these properties from 8am this morning.  Although we will leave a card asking people to call us on their return, we are continuing to revisit these properties throughout today.
   
Just for your information, our mobile command unit will be leaving site this afternoon.   Our engineers are not going anywhere, they will be around the villages until 9pm this evening.  
 

We are nearly there.  Progress has been good.  However, for the remaining properties to be switch on, we do need you to be in. Our engineers are doing one last push until around 10pm this evening.  If you are home, we should be able to get your gas back on tonight.

We are now at the stage where we have made multiple visits and still have not been able to access some properties.  Our team will now leave a card to explain how to get in touch with us.   On your return please call us on 0800 072 0035 and we'll get an engineer out to you, to safely switch your gas supply back on.  Please do not try to do this yourself.

We will be back first thing tomorrow morning to continue the restoration process and we will be here all weekend if necesary, to get everyone back on gas.  We do need you to be at home, to restore your gas supply.
 
We can't thank you enough. You have been so understanding since we arrived on Tuesday, and been so kind and considerate to our team, who’ve worked in all kinds of weather to get you back on gas.
 

 

Since early this morning, we have been busily getting properties back on gas, in all areas impacted by this incident. As we shared last night, we are now able to restore supplies at every property. We just need to get into your home to do that.
 
Almost two-thirds of impacted properties now have their gas supplies back on. The only reason the others aren’t is because we didn’t get an answer when we knocked.
 
We will keep making return visits through the day and into this evening. If, after multiple visits tonight, we are still unable to access your property, our team will leave a note to explain how to get in touch with us.
 
Don’t worry, we’ll keep engineers in the area through the weekend, so that when you call we can come round quickly.
 
Please DO NOT attempt to turn your own supply back on. Our engineers must do that. This ensures both your safety and everyone’s safety. As well as turning the supply back on, they will check your boiler, appliances and everything gas-related, to make sure it’s all working as it should be.
 
You will now see some of our facilities in the village begin to move out, such as our customer contact points. If you need to speak to the team, we’ll remain in the car park of The Green Man in Fownhope into the evening (if we still have properties to reconnect by then). Please come visit us if you need any help. You can ring the team direct on 0800 072 0035. If you can, please visit us in person, as that line can be busy.
 
Hot meal provision remains, a food van in the car park at The Green Man, Fownhope. This will be on site until this evening. The van at Hampton Bishop Village Hall has now moved out, given most of this area now has gas back on.
 
Finally, thank you. You have been so understanding since we arrived on Tuesday, and been so kind and considerate to our team, who’ve worked in all kinds of weather to get you back on gas.
 
As we’ve been so much a part of your community over the last few days, we’ve taken the opportunity to chat to many organisations in the area about support we may be able to provide in the longer-term. Some simple things initially such as providing more information and support to join the Priority Services Register (a free service which enables us to know who needs extra support at times like these – watch this video here), through to some things which will need a little longer to set up. Watch this space!
 
A reminder about compensation: Yes, you are entitled to it and will get it. We are arranging for that to happen automatically (you don’t need to do anything). You’ll see more info in the FAQ tab on this page. In short, householders get £65 for every 24 hours your property has been without gas; businesses get £105 for every 24 hours.
 

We are really pleased to tell you that we now have gas safely back into all the distribution pipes in the local area. We’ve visited many properties now across Hampton Bishop, Mordiford, Holme Lacy and Priors Frome and restored supply. Tonight, we’ve also been able to begin restoring supplies at homes and businesses in Fownhope.
 
Only because it’s late and dark, and we don’t want to risk waking or worrying you, we’ve decided to stop knocking on doors at 10pm. We’re bringing in lots of engineers ready to begin again from 8am tomorrow (Friday).
 
It is very important that you DO NOT attempt to turn your own supply back on. Our engineers must do that.
 
This ensures both your safety and everyone’s safety. As well as turning the supply back on, they will check your boiler, appliances and everything gas-related, to make sure it’s all working as it should be.
 
Do you need to stay in? It would be incredibly helpful if you could. We will need to access your property to restore your supply and carry out checks.
 
But if you need to go out, that’s OK. Is it possible to leave a key with a neighbour perhaps? Either way, don’t worry. We keep a log of properties where we’ve had no answer and will make multiple visits. If, after multiple visits, we have not caught you in, we will leave a card with a phone number for our team. Ring that and we’ll have an engineer there soon after.
 
Need a hot meal? We have booked the hot food van to return to the car park of The Green Man, Fownhope, tomorrow (Friday). These meals are free, for any of you without means to cook. However, we are hopeful that the majority of you will have your gas back on in the morning.
 
Need to speak to the team? Our customer support teams are also on site from early Friday morning – at both Hampton Bishop Village Hall and The Green Man (car park), Fownhope. Please come visit us if you need any help. You can ring the team direct on 0800 072 0035. If you can, please visit us in person, as that line can be busy.
 
Compensation? Yes, you are entitled to it and will get it. We are arranging for that to happen automatically (you don’t need to do anything). You’ll see more info in the FAQ tab on this page. In short, householders get £65 for every 24 hours your property has been without gas; businesses get £105 for every 24 hours.
 
After a day of mixed emotions, following the sadness of Her Majesty The Queen’s death earlier today, we hope you all have a restful night. We will work as quickly as we can tomorrow to complete our work and leave you in peace.
 
We will have a presence in the area beyond tomorrow, in part because we want to be ready to visit any properties where we’d previously not had access, but we will also need to tidy our many work areas and reinstate your roads to good order. Thank you once again for your patience.

Great news: really pleased to say we are ahead of the schedule we shared this morning, regarding restoring your gas supplies.
 
Our engineers are now visiting homes in every impacted area – except for Fownhope (more on that later) – to turn supplies back on and check everything is working as it should.
 
So, that’s everywhere affected in Hampton Bishop, Mordiford, Holme Lacy and Priors Frome.
 
Please DO NOT attempt to turn your own supply back on. Our engineers must do that. This ensures both your safety and everyone’s safety.
 
As well as turning the supply back on, they will check your boiler, appliances and everything gas-related, to make sure it’s all working as it should be.
 
What about Fownhope? We are hopeful to be able to start restoring some supplies here today, but want to prepare you to be ready for this possibly being tomorrow.
 
This is only because of the way the underground gas network is structured – we’d start sooner if we could. We will update you once we know more – thanks for bearing with us.
 
Do you need to stay in? It would be incredibly helpful if you could. We will need to access your property to restore your supply and carry out checks.
 
But if you need to go out, that’s fine too. We keep a log of properties where we’ve had no answer and will make multiple visits, well into this evening, and into tomorrow.
 
When will we work to tonight? We will work until late. Once it gets dark, we will only knock on doors if there is a light on. We will return tomorrow morning otherwise.
 
Need a hot meal? Hot food provision remains available at two venues. These meals are free, for any of you without means to cook a meal.
 
One van is at Hampton Bishop Village Hall, the other in the car park of The Green Man, Fownhope. Thank you to both locations for your support in making space available to accommodate these facilities.
 
Our customer support teams are also on site, and will be into this evening – at both Hampton Bishop Village Hall and The Green Man (car park), Fownhope. Please come visit us if you need any help.
 
We have a list of customers who are on the Priority Services Register and regularly calling in on them too.
 
You can ring the team direct on 0800 072 0035. If you can, please visit us in person, as that line is very busy.
 
We know it’s not been great to be without gas, but can we just say again how appreciative our teams have been on site for the understanding and kindness you’ve shown throughout. Thank you.
 
Compensation? Yes, absolutely, you are entitled to it and will get it. We are arranging for that to happen automatically (you don’t need to do anything). You’ll see more info in the FAQ tab on this page. In short, householders get £65 for every 24 hours your property has been without gas; businesses get £105 for every 24 hours.
 

In our phased, controlled reintroduction of gas to the local area we now visiting around 230 properties to turn gas supplies back on. We restored supply to around 50 additional homes last night. These are predominantly in the Hampton Bishop area and homes on the routes heading towards (but not into – just yet) the villages of Prior’s Frome, Mordiford, Holme Lacy and Fownhope.
 
Please DO NOT attempt to turn your own supply back on. Our engineers must do that. This ensures both your safety and everyone’s safety.
 
As well as turning the supply back on, they will check your boiler, appliances and everything gas-related, to make sure it’s all working as it should be.
 
We do need to carefully phase restoring supplies. This is both for safety and to avoid gas being lost again. That’s why we cannot give absolute timings at the moment.
 
Our current plan for today:
Is to move into Prior’s Frome village (earliest: late morning); then Mordiford village (late afternoon); then Holme Lacy (this evening).
 
Friday:
Fownhope is currently in the plan for tomorrow. This is only because of the way the underground gas network is structured – we’d be there sooner if we could.
 
You will see engineers in the area of Fownhope today, carrying out essential work in preparation for turning your supply back on.
 
We want to be as upfront and clear with you as we can, but please be aware that these timings are subject to change – depending on how tests and assessments progress today.
 
Do you need to stay in?
It would be incredibly helpful if you could. We will need to access your property to restore your supply and carry out checks. But if you need to go out, that’s fine too. We keep a log of properties where we’ve had no answer and will make multiple visits through today, well into this evening, and into tomorrow.
 
We can’t thank you enough for the wonderful way you’ve responded to this and your consideration for our engineers working hard to get your gas back on. Your patience and kindness is amazing.
 
Hot food vans will be back open again today, from 12 noon, for any of you without means to cook a meal. These meals are free. One van is at Hampton Bishop Village Hall, the other in the car park of The Green Man, Fownhope.
 
Thank you to both locations for your support in making space available to accommodate these facilities.
 
Our customer support teams are also on site, and will be into this evening – at both Hampton Bishop Village Hall and The Green Man (car park), Fownhope. Please come visit us if you need any help.
 
We have a list of customers who are on the Priority Services Register and regularly calling in on them too.
 
You can ring the team direct on 0800 072 0035. If you can, please visit us in person, as that line is very busy.
 

Good news, we have started to get gas back on to a small number of properties this evening.  This follows a successful day, of testing and getting gas back into a significant proportion of our network.
 
It’s looking good for tomorrow.  We hope to get at least a third of properties back on gas.  But we can't  get too carried away,  we are still checking properties to safely switch off at the gas meter and we still need to test the remaining proportion of our network.
 
Our priorities for tomorrow, will be to ensure the remaining handful of properties are safely switched off.  We have visited each of these properties a number of times, so if you know of anyone on holiday, do let us know.
 
We will continue to test the remaining pipes in our network.  So you may smell gas at some point tomorrow, whilst we vent the gas safely into the atmosphere.  Once this has been completed, we will start getting gas back into the remaining network.
 
This is not a process that can be rushed.  However, we will have approximately 50 engineers and staff on site tomorrow, working hard to restore the gas.  We will be working through the villages one sector at a time.  Tomorrow, we will be able to share the sectors and the streets where we will start to restore gas supplies.
 
Please ensure our engineers switch your gas back on.  We have to complete safety checks at each home and business, before we are able to restore gas supplies.  Please DO NOT try to do this yourself.  At this stage, gas is not in all of our network yet.
 
Once again, we will be at the Hampton Bishop Village Hall, if you have any further questions or you know someone who might need a little extra help at this time, come and let us know.  We are here to help you.
 
We have ordered the food trucks to return tomorrow in the villages.  So you will be able to have a hot meal.
 
We will be in your villages for the next few days and we won’t be leaving until everyone is back on gas.  Unfortunately, we can't give timescales about when this work will be completed but be assured, we are working hard to restore gas as safely and quickly as possible.
 
Thank you for your continued patience and understanding.  The good news is that gas is being restored.

After assessments through today and detailed planning, we are now ready to start what will be a long process to bring gas safely back into the local network. What this doesn’t mean though is that we are ready to restore gas into your home. It’s also likely that, for many of you, your gas won’t be back on today and we’re sorry about this news.
 
To explain more…
 
We now have several kilometres of gas distribution pipes to ‘purge’. This includes venting a small amount of gas into the atmosphere. Please don’t worry – this is safe, and we will monitor it constantly. There may be a smell of gas in the air. If you have any concerns, always call the national gas emergency line on 0800 111 999.
 
This process is likely to take several hours. After further tests, we then hope to start reintroducing gas to the local network. We will update you later whether this means we can start to switch supply back on at some of the impacted properties.
 
Please DO NOT attempt to turn your own supply back on. It is very important that this is done by one of our engineers. We have lots of our engineers in the area right now, ready to start once we are satisfied there is a safe, reliable supply.
 
We will need access to your property again, even if your meter and control valve is outside. This is because, as well as turning your supply back on, our engineers will look at your boiler, appliances, and everything gas-related – to make sure everything is working as it should be, and safely. If you can arrange to be in, that would be great – but if not, that’s fine too. We will remain in the area for as long as this takes, making several visits to catch you when you are in.
 
We also must stress that we will restore supply in a phased way. We want to say this now to avoid you being frustrated if you hear that neighbours have had their gas restored, but you haven’t. We are working through a plan now that should show the order in which we’re planning to return your gas supply back to normal.
 
That’s a lot of information to digest, but we hope it’s helpful.
 
We now have two food units offering free hot meals until 8.30pm tonight for anyone impacted by this. One is at Hampton Bishop Village Hall, the other in the car park of The Green Man, in Fownhope. Huge thanks to both venues for supporting this.
 
Our customer representatives remain on site at Hampton Bishop Village Hall this evening and back tomorrow, to answer any questions you may have or otherwise help. While you can also contact them direct on 0800 072 0035, we would advise visiting in person if you can, as the line is busy.
 
Thank you again for your patience and understanding.

We have made good progress isolating the individual gas supply to each property impacted. This is something we need to do before we can begin the process to restore your supplies. Last night, we had visited each property at least once and this morning we are revisiting and trying to make contact with those where we found no-one at home. We have lots of engineers from across a wide area with us today.
 
Thank you for bearing with us. Please be assured that we are focussed on restoring your gas safely in a safe, controlled, planned way, as soon as we can.
 
We are also doing our utmost to provide assistance to those of you without gas, particularly those on the Priority Services Register (a scheme that helps us quickly identify those most in need www.cadentgas.com/psr).
 
Our team is available at Hampton Bishop Village Hall if you have any questions. From around 12 noon, they can be contacted on a direct line 0800 072 0035. If you can, visit us in person – as we do expect that line may be busy.
 
We know you are desperate to know how long this will go on for and we promise to provide update through today. Re-establishing a gas supply on a scale like this involves a meticulous, careful process to ensure it’s all done safely. Realistically, it’s likely to be at least one more night for many of you – we are sorry.
 
Arrangements are being made to provide hot meals, for free – both lunchtime and evening meals – for those of you without gas. You will see at least one mobile food unit stationed at Hampton Bishop Village Hall within the next couple of hours and we hope to station a second food unit in the area too, also today.
 
Finally for now, thank you, to everyone in the area, for being so helpful and understanding to our teams on the ground. It is much appreciated.

We have drafted extra engineers in from across our network to get your gas supply restored as quickly as possible.

In order to do this safely, we first need to check that the gas supply to each property is turned off. 

Please DO NOT try to switch off your own supply. Our engineers must do that. They all carry ID – please ask to see their ID before allowing them into your home.  Our engineers will not be offended if you ask to see their ID badge.
 

We stopped knocking on doors around 11pm this evening because we know you want your sleep and we don't wish to be disturb too late at night.    Don't worry, we will be back first thing tomorrow morning. 

We'll be out again from 8am tomorrow morning.  So if you can be at home, that would be really helpful.  If however, you have to go to work, could you leave a key with your neighbour?  Or visit us at Hampton Bishop Village Hall and let us know when you'll be home.  
 

If you know of anyone who needs extra assistance at this time please let us know.  Tell one of our engineers or visit us at the Village Hall and we will see what we can do to help them through this incident.  We are here to help, so please ask.

Once every property's gas supply has been switched off safely, we can then start to get gas back in to our network.  After this is completed, we have to visit every property once more, to carry out our safety checks, before your gas supply can be restored.  This does take some time, so please bear with us.  We will do this process as quickly as possible but we have to ensure it is completed safely.

Thank you for your patience and kindness you’re already showing our teams on-site. They are working very hard to get you back on gas as quickly as we can.

We began to receive reports this morning (6 Sep) of no gas in the Hampton Bishop area.

Our teams arrived on site quickly and identified an issue with the local gas network.

As well as Hampton Bishop, this has impacted customers in Priors Frome, Mordiford, Fownhope and Holme Lacy.

We have mobilised lots of engineers to the area to begin the work needed to restore your supply.

In order to do this safely, we first need to be assured that the gas supply valve at each property is turned off.

Please DO NOT try to switch off your own supply. Our engineers must do that. They all carry ID – please do check it.

We know being without gas is not great and inconvenient. We are doing everything we can to safely restore your supply quickly.

Our team are going door-to-door now to carry out this work. If you can stay in, so we can get in, that will help to speed this up.

We will work late into the evening – only stopping when it’s too dark or late to disturb you. We will be back early tomorrow.

We are sorry, but we may not be able to start the process to restore supplies until at least tomorrow evening (7 Sep).

We promise to update you as soon as we know more.

We can provide you with alternative heating and means to cook if you need it.

We also have a list of customers who are on the Priority Services Register, and we will be providing every assistance to them. But if you know of a neighbour or family member who needs support, let us know.

We are setting up a customer contact and help point at Hampton Bishop Village Hall, Church Lane, HR1 4JY.

Thank you for your patience and kindness you’re already showing our teams on-site. They are working very hard to get you back on gas as quickly as we can.