Cadent Gas, which manages the UK’s gas emergency service, has been working to restore gas in thousands of homes after a water main burst in Roman Road, Muswell Hill, on January 12.
People had their water supply back by Sunday afternoon after Affinity Water fixed the pipe.
However the force of the water had made a hole in the gas pipe, causing water to leak into the gas network, affecting thousands of homes and offices in Muswell Hill, Colney Hatch and Hornsey.
Some 3,000 residents in more than 44 streets were told to switch off their gas supply in case there was water in the pipes.
Cadent said that to start to restore gas to people’s homes they had split the area into “East” and “West Zones” due to the large size of the area with Colney Hatch Lane in the middle.
More than 16,500 litres of water has been pumped out of gas pipes with work ongoing.
Cadent network director Vicky Grieve said engineers started to restore people’s gas on January 16, going from street to street.
She added: “I am pleased to say nearly 300 properties are now back on gas and this work will continue throughout today.
“The team are now preparing Phase 3 & 4, pumping out water and working to get gas back into this part of the network today.
“We hope to start our visits to restore gas in these phases later this evening or tomorrow morning. This will depend on the amount of water in our gas pipes.
“I do need to reiterate that people should not try to turn their own gas supply on. Our engineers must do this.
“We will check that water has not entered your property or gas meter, check the appliances and then safely turn your gas back on.”
She said that to the east of Colney Hatch Lane engineers had not been able to switch off gas in 4% of homes, possibly because residents weren’t home when they called, which meant gas in the affected streets could not be switched back on.
Ms Grieves added: “For the residents in the East Zone, this is where the most water entered into the gas pipes.
“We hope to start restoring gas in this area at the end of the weekend onwards.
“We appreciate that is not ideal.
“We will have our customer team and engineers on site throughout to help you and get everyone back on gas as soon as possible.”
Has having no gas affected you? Contact nathalie.raffray@newsquest.co.uk
