Wales & West Utilities (WWU) has confirmed it faces a significant task to restore gas supplies to around 4,600 properties affected by the outage.

The company has over 100 engineers working across the areas and has already visited 60 per cent of properties. WWU said it would help speed up the restoration process if residents can make every effort to be at home when engineers call. Additional engineers from elsewhere in the network have also been drafted in to support the work.

WWU said the majority of properties in Malborough have now been isolated, allowing engineers to begin restoring gas supplies in the area. Customers are reminded that an engineer will need to visit each property again to safely turn the gas back on. The company said homes will be visited as quickly as possible and asked residents to remain patient while work continues.

Engineers continue to work to isolate supplies in Kingsbridge, with 62 per cent of properties already visited. Around 60 engineers are working to reach the remaining homes as quickly as possible.

In Salcombe, engineers have so far visited 55 per cent of affected properties. Around 40 engineers are continuing work to isolate supplies and reach remaining homes.

A spokesperson for WWU said: “We continue to appreciate everyone’s patience as we work to restore supplies and would like to thank people for this. We will provide a further update later today”.