Villagers 'frustrated' after six days without gas

People living in a village have described their frustration over being without gas in their homes for almost a week.

Properties on Cotton End Road in Wilstead, Bedfordshire, have had no gas since 11 February when planned works to replace ageing metallic pipes with plastic ones were due to start.

Amber Greensmith, the head of customer experience at Cadent Gas, said that the firm discovered the existing pipes were in poor condition "which has resulted in a loss of gas to a number of homes in the area".

Karen White, who lives in the village, said it was "so frustrating" as "they should be working round the clock to fix it".

Cadent Gas said there was a loss of gas supply to more than 200 homes in the area.

White said that residents had kept being promised the problem would be fixed the next day but "everything [Cadent Gas] tell us is just not happening".

Her husband Terry said the situation was "getting more and more frustrating as we should have grandchildren here" during their school half-term.

He has been told workers had been digging up the road "to replace a section of pipe that is broken".

Greensmith said Cadent Gas has provided vulnerable customers with hot plates and heaters.

"Engineering teams worked hard to expedite the mains replacement work, and we have been in Wilstead over the weekend to reconnect customers to the gas supply.

"The majority of these have been completed and we continue to work hard to reconnect all customers as safely and as quickly as possible," she added.

Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.