Hundreds drop in on National Grid

Thursday, 25 February 2010

By Nick Griffin

HUNDREDS of residents affected by a massive gas supply failure over Christmas have turned out for a series of drop-in sessions set up by National Grid.

The surgeries saw 370 East Barnet residents meet advisers from National Grid amid growing anger about the way the ten-day incident was handled and levels of compensation on offer.

They were staged last Thursday, Friday and on Saturday morning after a public meeting with National Grid officials and mounting pressure from disgruntled residents.

At the meeting two weeks ago dozens of residents and businesses from some of the 3,500 properties affected locked horns with representatives from National Grid and Veolia Water. The highly charged meeting ended in stalemate, with National Grid refusing to budge on its offer of £30 compensation for each day customers were without gas and £100 for Christmas and Boxing Day.

More than 3,000 properties were left without heating or hot water when supplies failed on December 20, after a burst water main caused by sub-zero temperatures forced water into gas pipes.

Susan Lendon, of Crescent Road, was without gas for seven days, and spoke to advisers last Thursday.

She said: “I think it was a good idea because you were actually able to speak to someone face to face.

“My supply was off but I was fortunate in that I have family in the area and was able to go out. But it was terrible because it was so cold.

“The compensation should be higher – it would have been very expensive for people with families to run convection heaters.”

Chris Gennaris, of Crescent Road, said: “We came because we hadn’t been offered the compensation for Christmas and Boxing Day. So we spoke with them and they said they will organise it. I think National Grid has been very helpful.”

Bernard Walsh, of Brookhill Road, East Barnet, who organised the recent public meeting, added; “I’m glad they agreed to this but I would have liked to have seen them there for a whole week, not just two and a half days.”

A National Grid spokesman said: “We became aware that there were a number of residents who felt that they had not received the correct payment under our standards of service. We had 370 people attend these surgeries and were able to have some positive discussions.”

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