GAS has been restored in Widnes after more than 550 homes were left without it on New Year’s Eve.

It came after a vehicle crashed into a kiosk and Queensbury Way that houses essential equipment to manage gas pressures in the local area.

Cadent Gas, along with emergency services, was called to the scene.

Immediately detecting an issue, this ‘governor’ station went into an automatic shutdown, which made sure everything was safe. However, it also meant supply to hundreds of homes was lost.

Since then, teams from Cadent and independent gas transporter GTC have worked to safely restore gas to the network and get local homes back on gas.

Engineers managed to get gas back into the network within 24 hours and went house-to-house to carry out safety checks. Every home they have been able to access is now back on gas.

Phil Hendrick, head of customer operations, has said the kindness and understanding shown to his engineers during the process has been ‘amazing’.

He said: “We had 560 properties affected and, as it stands, 99 per cent are now back on gas.

“Thank you from me and the team. You have been fantastic and the community spirit has really shone through.”

Phil also thanked the emergency services for making the area safe on New Year’s Eve as well as Halton Borough Council and a number of other services.

The team at Everglades Hotel has also been praised after hosting the engineers.

Cadent has now departed from its temporary command base in the car park of the Everglades Hotel.

The small number of customers who were not in when engineers called to restore supply are asked to contact Cadent on 0800 389 8000, to ask for a ‘purge and relight’. They are reminded NOT to attempt to restore their own supply.

There is also a reminder that if you ever smell gas, notice damage to gas pipes, or suspect the presence of carbon monoxide, act immediately and call the national gas emergency service on 0800 111 999. All calls are recorded and may be monitored.