Residents fear a Christmas without gas

Thousands of residents in north London whose gas was cut off this week feared today they could be without their supply over Christmas.

Around 650 homes in East Barnet faced a fourth day without gas after water from a burst main got into their pipes on Sunday.

At the peak of the disruption, 1,200 homes were affected.

Engineers are still struggling to restore gas to the remaining homes and residents today said they fear the supply may not be restored until after the holidays.

Hundreds of people have queued outside a school where volunteers continue to hand out fan heaters.

Resident Kay Skinner, 61, said: "My husband is recovering from pneumonia and the nights are absolutely freezing. The worst part is that we all feel like the gas company is giving us no information."

David Luetchford, from National Grid, said: "We are still pumping water out of the gas network. I appreciate that this is a difficult time for residents, but we are doing all we can."

Elsewhere, up to 100 homes in Notting Hill were left without power after an underground cable fault, according to supplier EDF.