Herringthorpe OAP more than a match for gas pipe cowboy

A PENSIONER in his 70s chased off dodgy workmen after catching them tapping into the gas line on his property.

John Brittle (78, pictured) of Herringthorpe, said Cadent later fined his neighbour £557.95 after needing to send out an engineer to check the supply.

Mr Brittle, of Burns Road, added: “I had been out and I came back to find these guys here in my yard and I chased them off.

“Now I’ve had a letter to say that even though he got someone else to do it, Cadent have found my neighbour responsible.

“I went to the police but they told me it was a civil matter. It should be criminal. He dug my block paving up for this.

“So it means I’ve got to take it through the small claims court. I can’t afford to get a solicitor.

“But I’m not doing this for me. It’s for all the hundreds of people who are getting ripped off by builders.”

Mr Brittle said he was thanked by the gas engineer who came to fix the pipes for averting a potentially dangerous incident.

A Cadent spokeswoman said: “We can’t comment on specific cases. 

However, we can confirm that if someone damages our pipes, including gas service pipes, which take gas from the gas main in the street to a building, perhaps through renovation or development work, then we may charge them for any repairs that we have to carry out. 

“Damaging gas pipes is potentially dangerous so we would always advise people to get in touch with us first before digging in areas that might be near our pipes or equipment. 

“This is so we can make sure that people dig safely. For further information about safe digging and how to get into touch with us, please go to our webpage, cadentgas.com/digging-safely.”

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