Stannington: The compensation 1,200 Sheffield households can claim after being left without gas

There were dramatic scenes in Stannington late on Friday night (December 2, 2022), following a high pressure rupture outside the Rose and Crown pub on Bankfield Lane, which tore holes in gas pipes, knocking out boilers, cookers and fires. Hundreds of homes have been left without hot water or heating since the water main burst almost four days ago.

A spokesman for Cadent Gas said the firm was working to clear a deluge of ‘around 200,000 litres of water’ from gas pipes and other areas following the burst water main, and that gas cannot be switched back on until all of the water has been removed.

He continued by saying that Cadent hopes that gas can be restored to some homes today (Monday, December 5), if work to clear water is completed, however many other homes will be left without gas ‘beyond today’. The Cadent spokesman said that it will not be a case of simply switching gas back on, and engineers will need to check appliances in every one of the 1,200 homes estimated to be affected first.

He said “if you can stay home, then stay home,” and advised residents who cannot stay at home due to other commitments to either leave a key with a neighbour or to leave contact details to allow the firm to reach them should the time come for gas to be restored.

“We won’t just knock on the door once and then leave, we will be around,” he said.

Cadent has a statutory obligation to pay compensation to anyone without gas for more than 24 hours after the first complete 24 hour period. Their website states: “Householders are entitled to £65 for every 24 hours they were off gas, while businesses will receive £105 per 24 hours off gas. This will be paid directly to them via their gas suppliers.”

The gas flood is believed to be affecting people within a three mile radius, running from Stannington to Hillsborough, and the affected region has been split into four areas. Gas will be restored to each area once water has been removed, the spokesman said.

The Cadent website has a list of which streets fall into each of the four ‘zones’ which you can view here; but the spokesman said he could not say which of the four zones was likely to have gas restored first. However, residents claim they have been told gas will be returned to households Zone 1 first.

Around 1,000 Cadent engineers and staff members are working from The Lomas Hall, with Mobile Command Units operating from the car park and a Customer Support Team who are based from the Hall itself, offering help and support to residents.

The Cadent spokesman said staff in the Customer Support Team have provided some affected residents with items such as hot plates and fan heaters; however he said they cannot give fan heaters due to the amount of electricity they use over concerns that the electricity network could also be jepoardised if every one of the 1,200 affected homes plugged a heater in at the same time.

The Cadent spokesman said he knows that some residents are concerned that they have not seen staff working on their street, but this is as a result of the hilly geography of the area, and staff are at the ‘various low points which is where the water congregates’.

He also encouraged residents to look into whether they are eligible to be on the Priority Services Register (PSR), which is a free service offered throughout the energy industry available to domestic customers across England, Wales and Scotland.It helps energy companies like Cadent look after customers who have extra communication, access or safety needs. It’s free and easy to join and gives extra support to those who need it. He said Cadent will be consulting the PSR to ascertain which individuals should be prioritised.

A Yorkshire Water spokesman said: “We have repaired a burst pipe on Stannington Road. We are working closely with Cadent to help customers affected.”