Around 2,500 homes in the Coventry area have been left without gas after Transco were forced to cut the only supply into the area.

Residents in Bulkington could face over 48 hours without gas after an interruption in the supply pipe forced Transco to turn them off at around lunchtime yesterday.

The company say they have applied all the necessary resources to combat the problem quickly and safely and hope to start restoring some services today.

Operations Manager for Transco West Midlands Ian Cartwright assured customers that it was doing everything in its power to resume service as soon as possible.

He said:

"We are not exactly sure what caused the interruption at the moment but we do not believe it was a gas leak. We are currently focusing all our efforts on restoring gas supplies for residents of the area and we will look into what caused the problem once that has been done.

"Unfortunately when there is a problem with a gas supply it is not like water or electricity, we actually have to visit every home and disconnect them before we commence work, and then visit again to reconnect them when we have finished, which obviously takes time."

The company, who are a subsidiary of British Gas, are working in stages and are hoping to reconnect around 700 of the homes late today, and the remaining ones by the end of tomorrow.

However Cartwright is stressing that there is still a lot to be done.