A MAJOR water mains burst cut the gas supply to 1,000 homes in the Wharton area on Sunday with many residents still waiting to be reconnected.

National Grid engineers were alerted at 4.15pm after a water main fractured on Crook Lane and flooded a gas main.

More than 30 vans attended the scene to manually cut off the gas supply to hundreds of homes while engineers attempted to fix the problem and resupply gas from its Ellesmere Port network.

A National Grid spokesperson said yesterday, Tuesday: "Engineers have managed to restore 150 properties in the Winsford area.

"We are working from the extremities inwards and it is hoped most of the properties will be restored today.

"However it is a slow process as water is still being pumped out of the gas network.

"Residents are being kept up to date with the incident and vulnerable people have been offered alternative cooking and heating facilities if required."

The roads affected by the water mains burst are Crook Lane, Nat Lane, Wesley Court, School Road, Ledward Street, Wharton Road, Greville Drive, Leven Avenue, Catalan Close, Walnut Drive and Beaulieu Avenue in Meadowbank.

Ethel Brookes, 83, of School Road, was still without gas as the Guardian went to press last night.

She said: "I don't mind because you have to be very careful when it comes to dealing with gas.

"Thankfully it is summer because if it was winter and elderly people like myself were without heating then it could have been very serious.

"But I will cope because it's just like it was during the war and we did alright then."

Keith Musgrave, lead councillor for Vale Royal Borough Council, said: "With more than 1,000 homes in the Crook Lane area affected the National Grid had more than 30 vans on the ground trying to fix the problem.

"We practise for these types of incident on a regular basis and when I visited the incident room I was delighted to see how efficiently everyone worked together."

Any residents concerned about the gas shortage can call the emergency helpline on 0800 111999.

l For updates on this story, log on to winsfordguardian.co.uk