Water ingress - Banbury OX16

There are now 46 affected properties remaining without their gas supply.

All of our effort today is focused on continuing to remove pockets of water from our gas pipes and restoring these supplies as quickly as possible.

We are still struggling to access some properties where gas is available. If a card was left at your property, please call the contact number provided so we can rearrange for an engineer to visit. 

You will receive compensation for the time you were without your gas supply, as agreed with the energy regulator Ofgem. 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 bill. There is no need to apply for this as it’s paid automatically. It usually takes four to five weeks for your compensation to be processed.

Finally, we would once again like to say a heart-felt thank you to all of those who have been affected by this emergency for your on-going support and understanding.

This will be our last update here, but we are available on site to answer any questions you have and provide any support required. Our Customer Service Team will be at the Community Centre until 8pm this evening, or you can call us on 0800 912 1717. 

We've continued making good progress today and now have 75 remaining affected properties. 

The majority of these properties are in Windrush and Evenlode, where we're continuing to remove water from our pipes. 

There are a number of properties we've been unable to access to turn gas supplies back on. If a card has been left at your property, please call the contact number as soon as possible to rearrange a visit from one of our engineers. 

We are truly grateful for the support and understanding we're receiving from the local community.

We'll continue working into this evening and will update you on our progress again tomorrow morning. 

Our engineers were back on site this morning after working into the evening yesterday. 

We are continuing to make good progress and now have approximately 170 affected properties remaining to reconnect to our gas network.

We're working as hard as possible to remove water from individual service pipes and gas meters, which will allow us to reinstate many more supplies today.

We'll provide an update on our progress at around 5pm today.

We've now reconnected the gas supplies to 526 homes affected by water entering our gas network in Banbury.

Gas is available in most locations however, we're aware that water is still preventing us from reinstating supplies for many homes in Evenlode. Please bear with us if you live in this area, we sincerely appreciate your ongoing patience and understanding.

It's taking more time than usual to restore gas supplies in locations were gas is available because the water has made its way into individual service pipes and meters. It's essential that we can gain access to these properties to remove the water, carry out safety checks and reinstate gas supplies as quickly as possible. If you were out when our engineer tried to gain access, they will have left a card at your property with details on how to rearrange a visit.

We'll continue working throughout this evening and will be in direct contact with all vulnerable customers yet to be reconnected.

This is our last update today however, our Customer Service team will be at Ruscote Community Centre until 8pm if you need to talk to us.

Our next update will be posted tomorrow morning.

Our engineers have been back on the ground in streets affected by water entering our network in Banbury first thing this morning.

We made good progress last night and again this morning having reconnected a total of 420 gas supplies so far. Today, we’ll be revisiting homes where gas is available, which we couldn’t access yesterday, to carry out safety checks and reinstate more gas supplies.

We're so grateful for your patience while we work to restore gas supplies, especially to those homes in High Furlong, Evenlode, Woodfield, and Windrush, where pockets of water remain in our network.

We recognise it's not easy being without gas, and we're doing everything we can to extract the remaining water and get more properties reconnected.

We’ll update you again at around 5pm.

Our engineering teams are continuing to make steady progress this evening reconnecting more gas supplies in Banbury.

So far, approximately 350 affected properties are back on gas and a total of 35,000 litres has been extracted. We hope to reconnect more homes tonight and are prioritising vulnerable customers in the streets where gas is available.

Water in our gas pipes is still stopping us from having gas available to many homes in High Furlong, Evenlode, Woodfield, and Windrush.

Our Customer Service team will be at Ruscote Community Centre until 8pm if you need us. Don't worry if you miss us, we'll be back at 8.30am tomorrow.

We'll post our next update tomorrow morning.

We're making good progress on site today and we now have over 300 affected properties reconnected to our gas network. 

Water in our gas pipes is stopping us from having gas available to many homes in High Furlong, Evenlode, Woodfield, and Windrush. Our engineers are continuing to extract pockets of water with our syphon tankers in multiple locations, with the hope that we will be able to reconnect further customers this evening.

We'll post another update on our progress by 8pm.

We were back on site first thing this morning and our work to reconnect all affected gas supplies continues. 

Some pockets of water which have been moving around our gas network have slowed down our progress and our engineering teams are working tirelessly to remove them.

We are hoping to be able to reinstate many more supplies later this afternoon after using our specialist equipment to locate and extract more of the remaining water. 

We know it's very frustrating to be without your gas supply, and want to thank the local community once again for your understanding and support as we deal with this emergency.

Please remember our Customer Service Team are on site at the Community Centre daily until 8pm if you need extra help or have any questions. 

We'll post an update on our progress later today.

Our engineers have now extracted 30,000 litres of water from our gas network. Work is still ongoing to remove the remaining pockets of water in our pipes to enable homes still without their supply to be restored as quickly as possible.

We're continuing to visit homes affected by water in their individual service pipes and meters, too. Please contact us with the details on a card if you were out when we visited, and an engineer will return to your property to remove this water and carry out safety checks. We won't be able to restore your supply until all the water from your affected service pipe or meter is removed.

You can reach us at Ruscote Community Centre to provide any assistance you need or answer any questions.

We're so grateful for your patience while we work to restore gas supplies. We recognise it's not easy being without gas, and we're doing everything we can to extract the remaining water and get more properties reconnected.

Our next update will be mid-morning tomorrow.

We're making good progress on site this morning and have now reconnected gas supplies to 125 affected properties.

There are still many homes with water in their individual service pipes and meters. It's essential that we can gain access to these properties to remove the water, carry out safety checks and reinstate gas supplies as quickly as possible. If you were out when our engineer tried to gain access, they will have left a card at your property with details on how to rearrange a visit.

Our work today will focus on reconnecting many more gas supplies to affected properties, and removing the remaining pockets of water from our network.

Our Customer Service Team are back at Ruscote Community Centre until 8pm today to provide any assistance you need.

We'll provide another update later today. 

Our teams remain on site and supplies have now been restored to 76 homes.

We're also continuing to remove water. We've now identified further pockets of water which we're planning to clear this evening. Once this work is complete, we'll be able to reconnect many more properties. 

As soon as we're ready, we will visit affected homes in stages to restore the gas supply and carry out safety checks. For security reasons, you should always ask to see the identification card of anyone calling at your home. All our engineers carry a laminated identity card. If you are in any doubt, please refuse entry and seek assistance from a neighbour or relative, or call the telephone number on the identification card.

Around 250 homes have been particularly impacted by this incident, with water in their service pipes and meters. It will take a little longer for us to restore supplies to these customers.

Thank you to Banbury residents for your patience and understanding.

We'll post an update on our progress tomorrow morning. 

We arrived back on site early this morning and have now managed to remove all of the water from our network in High Furlong, Woodfield, and Windrush. 

This means we now have gas available in our pipes in these locations, and our engineers have begun visiting each affected property to carry out essential safety checks and reinstate supplies.

If you are out when our engineer calls, they will leave an information card at your property. Please call the number on this card to rearrange a visit.

There are still pockets of water in our pipes in other locations, which is stopping us from having gas available to Evenlode, Sinclair Avenue, Portway, Danesmoor, and Chetwode. We are continuing to use specialist equipment to find and extract the remaining water as quickly as possible. 

Our Customer Service Team are back at the Community Centre today until 8pm - please head along to speak with them if you require additional support or have any questions. 

We'll post an update on our progress later today. 

We've made good progress today with removing water from our network. Hundreds of homes have been affected and so far, 19,500 litres have been extracted. We'll continue our efforts on this into the evening.

The situation is improving, largely because we took out a significant amount of water near the community centre this afternoon. Currently we're checking whether the gas pressure in our pipes is suitable to start restoring supplies. This process takes time however as soon as we're confident that reconnection is possible, we'll visit homes to turn your gas back on at the meter.

We are sorry we can't confirm a time for this yet as it's difficult to estimate exactly how long it will take, however we will keep you informed.

Our staff are available at the Ruscote Community Centre until 8pm.

We'll update our website by 11am tomorrow.

Our engineers arrived back on site early this morning and our Customer Service Team are back at the Ruscote Community Centre today. 

We're continuing to remove water from our flooded gas network and this work will carry on throughout the day.

To help us find the remaining pockets of water, we have specialist camera equipment on site, and we'll be digging additional holes in the roads and footpaths to reach more of our pipes. 

We want to assure you we are working as hard as we can to make sure your gas supplies are reconnected as quickly as possible.

You will receive compensation for the time you were without your gas supply, as agreed with the energy regulator Ofgem. 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 bill. There is no need to apply for this as it’s paid automatically. It usually takes four to five weeks for your compensation to be processed.

We'll post another update on our progress later this afternoon.

We're continuing to extract water which entered our network with syphon tankers.

The affected gas supplies can't be restored until all the water has been removed from our network. We know this is frustrating and we really appreciate your patience and support while we work hard to restore supplies.

Our team of engineers will remain on site until later tonight, and will resume work again first thing tomorrow morning. Remember, if you need any additional support or have any questions, you can visit our Customer Service team from 8.30am tomorrow at Ruscote Community Centre, Banbury, OX16 1PH.

We'll update you again at 11am tomorrow.

Our work to remove the water which entered our network is progressing well and we have now extracted over 17,000 litres. 

We've drafted in engineers from across the country to make sure we can reconnect gas supplies to all affected homes as quickly as possible.

We'll continue pumping water out of our gas network into the evening and will update you on our progress at around 9.30pm.

Our Customer Service Team will be at the Ruscote Community Centre until 8pm this evening - please head along to speak to them if you need any additional support.

We arrived back on site early this morning and have been continuing to visit the remaining affected properties. Our engineers have around 40 properties still to visit, and we are working to gain access to 16 homes that are currently unoccupied to turn off gas supplies.

After we turn gas supplies off at these remaining properties, our efforts today will focus on continuing to pump the water out of our flooded gas network. 

Our Customer Service Team are based at Ruscote Community Centre, Banbury, OX16 1PH. Please head along to speak with them if you need any additional support or have any questions. 

We'll post an update on our progress this afternoon.

Our engineers have continued visiting affected properties in the area today to carry out safety checks and turn off gas supplies at the meter. 

The water which flooded our gas network has travelled further into our pipes than we first expected, meaning we have more homes to visit.

We are hoping to have visited these remaining affected homes this evening and first thing tomorrow morning. We'll then be able to continue removing the water from our gas network. We can't reconnect any gas supplies until this work has been carried out. 

You will be compensated for your time without gas. This will be paid directly through your gas supplier and will be paid to you automatically.

Once again, we thank you for your patience and understanding as our engineers work to get your gas supplies back on. 

We'll post an update on our progress here tomorrow morning.

We have now removed over 6,500 litres of water from our flooded gas network and we'll continue to remove the water from our pipes this afternoon.

Our engineers are still working to gain access to the few remaining affected properties to turn off gas supplies at the meter. If you were out when we came to your home, please call the number on the card we left at your property to rearrange for an engineer to visit.

We have portable heaters and hot plates for cooking available for those who need them. Please ask one of our engineers on site or call us on 0800 912 1717 if you require extra help.

We understand it's frustrating being without your gas supply and we'd like to thank you for your continued patience and understanding whilst we work to get the gas back on. 

Another update will be posted here later today.

We can confirm that a number of properties in the following streets have lost their gas supplies due to water entering our network: 

• High Furlong
• Evenlode
• Portway
• Danesmoor
• Chetwode
• Windrush
• Woodfield
• Sinclair Avenue

Our work this morning focuses on gaining access to the 70 remaining affected homes in the area to turn off their gas supplies.

We also have specialist equipment arriving on site which will allow us to begin pumping water out of our gas pipes. 

It's still too early to say when we are likely to be in a position to restore your gas supplies, but we'd like to assure you we are working as quickly and safely as possible.

Another update on our progress will be posted here this afternoon.

We're aware gas supplies to several properties in Banbury have been affected as a result of water entering our network.

Our engineers are on site to establish the extent of the damage and remove the water from our pipes.

We're visiting all affected customers to turn off their gas supply at the meter for safety reasons. So far, our engineers have turned off approximately 100 gas supplies in the Longelandes Way area.

Once gas is available again, our engineers will return to these properties to turn their gas back on and carry out checks. It's difficult to estimate exactly how long it will take to restore supplies at this time, but our engineers are working to do so as quickly as possible. We'll be updating residents on our progress by letter and via this webpage.

If you're elderly, disabled, chronically sick or have young children or other special needs, we have portable electric appliances for cooking and heating. These can be obtained by calling our 24-hour Customer Service team on 0800 912 1717.

We'll be working late into the evening and will return first thing tomorrow. Our next update will be at 10am on Sunday morning.