Gas outage affecting thousands of homes in Devon

Efforts to restore gas supplies in Kingsbridge, Malborough, and Salcombe are entering their third day after damage to a gas main near Kingsbridge caused significant disruption for 4,600 properties.

Engineers from Wales & West Utilities have been working tirelessly to isolate and safely reconnect supplies since the damage was first reported on 3rd January 2026.

The main has since been repaired, but reconnections require engineers to visit every affected home to shut off supply at control valves before safely restoring gas.

Progress update

A spokesperson for Wales & West Utilities said “Our teams worked late into the night yesterday continuing to restore gas supplies to customers in Malborough. This work has continued since early this morning as they work their way around the remaining properties.

“This morning, we have also started the process of restoring gas supplies to properties in Kingsbridge, so our teams will be visiting properties there to put the gas back on safely for customers. However, we still have a high number of properties in the area that we have not been able to access to isolate supplies.

“This means that after we have commissioned the local network and before we can transfer all our resources to the restoration of supplies in the area, we will need to monitor ‘no access’ properties to ensure that there are no gas escape traces within these properties. This is not ideal, but it is essential.

“As soon as these checks have been completed, we will move all our resources onto restoring supplies in the area.

“We remind customers that we will need to gain access to your properties to restore the supply.

“We again request that all property owners, landlords, letting agencies or designated key holders who are responsible for properties that we have not been able access contact us urgently so we can isolate your supplies to enable us to transfer our resources to the supply restoration process."

Safety reminders

Devon County Council have since issued advice for residents cut off from gas supplies.

The local authority says "all properties affected must be visited twice before supplies are restored, once to turn off the supply at the household and once to turn it back on when the main has been repaired. Wales & West is appealing for residents to remain in their homes to assist with this process".

Advice on keeping warm safely without mains gas:

• Do not light a fire indoors unless you have a proper heating appliance for this purpose or a fireplace with a working chimney.
• Do not use camping stoves and barbecues indoors as there is a risk of carbon monoxide poisoning, which can kill.
• Do not use petrol or diesel generators or other similar fuel driven equipment indoors as the exhaust gases contain carbon monoxide.
• Be very careful when using heating appliances that are not mains powered. If you have a portable gas heater that uses gas bottles and is approved for indoor use, make sure the room is well ventilated and follow all instructions carefully as the fumes can be dangerous.
• You are advised to wear several thin layers of clothing and wrap up warm. While you are sitting, keep your feet raised because air near the floor is colder.
• Get up and move around and stretch at least every hour. Get everyone in the house to gather in one room to share warmth.
• Put something like a towel or sheet under the doors of the rooms you are using to reduce draughts. Close your curtains and blinds when it gets dark to help keep the heat in. Use blankets or sheets to cover your windows if you don’t have curtains or blinds. Close the windows and doors in rooms you are not using. 
• Becoming very cold can have serious effects on your health. Look out for the signs of hypothermia in people in your home. You are looking for shivering, cold and dry skin, skin and lips that are blue or grey (which may easier to see on the palms of the hands or the soles of the feet of black or brown skin), slurred speech, slow breathing and appearing tired or confused. 
• If you are concerned for someone’s health please contact NHS Direct on 111 for non-emergency advice or 999 in an emergency.

Devon County Council is contacting care homes and schools in the area and reviewing gritting procedures to ensure key routes remain open to gas engineers and support workers.

There are five schools which are due to reopen after the Christmas break tomorrow or on Tuesday and which may be affected by the outage; Kingsbridge Primary School; Kingsbridge Community College, West Alvington Primary School, Malborough Primary School, and Salcombe Primary School.

Wales & West Utilities is urging homeowners to verify the identification of their engineers before allowing entry. Their ID verification service can be reached on 0800 316 0478.

Customers who were not home when engineers visited are advised to contact Wales & West Utilities to schedule reconnection. If anyone smells gas, they should call the National Gas Emergency line on 0800 111 999 immediately.

Work will continue throughout the day across affected areas until all properties have their gas safely reinstated.

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