Withernsea residents return home following gas leak

Residents in the Queen Street area of Withernsea were allowed to return to their homes last night (August 6), after engineers from Northern Gas Networks fixed a gas main damaged by a third party.

The low pressure main was damaged on Monday, August 6. Gas engineers had to wait for a 39 tonne road planer, sitting directly above the damaged section of pipe, to be hoisted clear by a crane, before they could begin repairs.

The road planer was finally removed at around 10.30pm on Monday, and a temporary repair to stop the gas leak was  completed by 11.30pm. Engineers will be returning to site today (Tuesday) to continue making permanent repairs to the pipe.

Gwen Allen from Northern Gas Networks said: "This was an extremely unusual situation for our engineers, and a frustrating one for local residents.

"We were unable to get in and repair the pipe until this extremely heavy machine had been removed. The owners of the planing machine had to use a specialist, 200 tonne crane to winch the machine away from the damaged pipe section.

"Once engineers could get to the pipe, a temporary repair was quickly made, allowing residents to return home."

During the incident, a number of properties were evacuated by the fire service as a precaution.

Gwen Allen added: "Residents did the right thing by sounding the alarm. Anyone who smells gas should always call the national gas emergency service on 0800 111 999. Don't delay in making the call as it could be life-saving."