Silsden church becomes emergency centre after Easter gas failure

St James’s Church in Silsden near Keighley became an emergency community hub over the Easter weekend after the gas supply failed to some 4,000 thousand homes in the  town.

An emergency incident room was set up in St James’ church hall and emergency heaters and meal vouchers have been handed handed out to elderly and vulnerable people without gas.

And local leaders have praised an army of vounteers who came to the church to help the community.

The Bradford Telegraph and Argus reported that contractors had cut through a gas pipe cutting off supplies to the entire town.

Resident Matthew Rose, told the newspaper: "All of Silsden is without gas after developers cut through a gas main. Repairs to take days.

"Meanwhile, Northern Gas Networks (NGN) are distributing hotplates and heaters from incident room at St. James' Church Hall."

On Twitter, Bradford Council leader Susan Hinchclife wrote: "St James Church in Silsden have been fabulous during today, hosting the emergency centre at short notice. Great support in the community's hour of need."

Bishop of Bradford, Toby Howarth thanked all involved for putting aside Easter plans for the sake of others:

"It's great to see how much everyone has been pulling together, with the church at the heart of the community."

Residents were told it could be "three to four days" before all properties in the town, an estimated 3,750, could be reconnected by experts who has to visit every property individually.

Iain Foster, NGN's Network Supply Strategy Manager, added at the time: “We have a large task ahead of us and thank customers for their patience and cooperation.

"We’ve set up an onsite customer support centre at St James’ Church Hall where people can speak with our customer care team. We’re also arranging facilities to be made available to those people who need hot food.”

In a statement posted on its Twitter account, Bradford Council said at the time,: "We are aware 3,000 homes in Silsden have not got a gas supply and are working with our partner organisations to do what we can to help residents who are affected."

Gas supplies have now been restored to the town. 

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