The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Gas supply cut to more than 1,300 homes.
scone: Engineers battling to restore gas to vast majority of village
Engineers from across Scotland are battling to restore gas to more than 1,300 homes in Perthshire’s biggest village.
SGN crews were out in force after a Scone gas main flooded late on Tuesday night, cutting off supplies to most of the area.
Despite searching for more than 24 hours, workers have been unable to trace the source of the flooding.
Gas at around 1,300 homes has been cut off as a safety precaution, leaving many without central heating overnight.
Extra engineers from as far afield as Aberdeen, Dunfermline, Glasgow and Paisley were drafted yesterday morning to help tackle the growing emergency.
An SGN spokeswoman said: “Our engineers worked through the night to remove water from our network.
“We restarted work in the morning to pump more water out of our pipes and we’re also continuing to visit those affected properties to turn off gas supplies at the meter.
“Progress has been excellent and to help us further we have drafted in extra engineers from across Scotland.
“Our senior engineering team is also continuing to investigate where water is getting into our network. In the meantime, we have been using specialist equipment and tankers to remove the water which has already made its way into our pipes.”
She was unable to say when gas supplies would be restored.
By lunchtime about 2,000 litres of water was pumped out and supplies at 1,300 homes were physically shut off.
An incident van was stationed at the Old Parish Church on the edge of the village to offer residents advice and information.
Community councillor Bill Paterson said: “We will be asking SGN for a full report into their investigation.
“We need to know how this happened It hasn’t even been raining heavily, so its a bit of a mystery where all this water has come from.
“We have had a couple of power cuts in recent weeks and our worry is that the infrastructure around Scone is failing.”
Mr Paterson alerted SGN staff to an old barrel drain which runs under the village, which was damaged and caused major flooding three years ago.
Perthshire North MSP John Swinney has spoken to SGN bosses about the incident.
“I am very concerned about the impact this will have on people in the village and appreciate the need for services to be restored as quickly as possible,” he said.
Engineers were scrambled at 7.30pm on Tuesday. They were forced to spend the night at a nearby hotel after failing to trace and resolve the issue.
Gas must be turned off at private homes by engineers. Residents were warned to check engineers’ ID cards before letting them inside.
It hasn’t even been raining heavily, so its a bit of a mystery where all this water has come from