£200 donation to Bradford-on-Tone Village Hall

The people of Bradford-on-Tone rallied round to support gas engineers restoring supplies to their homes days before Christmas.

They opened up the village hall, while staff at the White Horse prepared hot drinks to keep the workers warm.

The engineers from Wales and West Utilities worked round the clock to get the gas back on after supplies to 130 properties were interrupted when a car crashed into and damaged part of the gas network.

Daniel Lawrence, the company's gas emergency service manager for the area, said workers were touched by the support of the community.

Daniel Lawrence, of Wales and West Utilities

He added: "When we were alerted to the situation, we had to turn off the gas supply to 130 homes in the village, leaving them without mains gas until we repaired the damage caused by the car crash.

"Villagers were really understanding, considering the approach to Christmas and of course, coronavirus, but still showed true community spirit."

He added: "We were touched by the way in which everyone came to support us as we carried out this essential work.

"Thanks to their kindness, we were able to concentrate on getting gas supplies up and running within 24 hours of the accident.

"On behalf of my team at Wales and West Utilities, I’d like to say a huge thank you for the understanding and kindness from local people – it really made a difference to us being able to get the gas flowing again."

By way of a thank you, Wales and West Utilities has donated £200 to Bradford-on-Tone Village Hall which was offered free of charge at short notice.