Freezing Northampton homeowners facing their fifth day without gas or hot water have 'lost their patience'

Teams from Cadent Gas has reportedly been working "night and day" to fix the gas.

Homeowners in Little Billing say they are losing patience after heating in dozens of houses cut out five days ago.

Some houses in Valley Road have even suffered power cuts - leading gas company Cadent to ask families through a Facebook announcement to limit themselves to one electric heater for the whole house.

"I was understanding up until now but you are taking the mick", said one resident. "It's minus nine tonight."

Reportedly, the outage began on Sunday night when damage affected a nearby water pipe, causing a burst. From there, water entered the gas main.

But recent freezing weather has led to further troubles, with water cutting out for several hours on Monday night.

Cadent distributed electric heaters and hot plates to homeowners to allow them to cook and warm their houses - but have now asked residents to use one heater maximum to avoid more power cuts.

Families have reportedly been sleeping in one room to stay near their heater and have had to travel to families and friends houses just to shower.

"It's scary times for the village residents," says homeowner Chloe McGowan. "With snow and weather warnings it is worrying to have no updates and no mention of being put up in accommodation etc."

"To be fair, Cadent has been fantastic", said one 70-year-old resident. "They have been out there working day and night to get this sorted.

"It's Anglian Water. We've not heard from them at all. They've taken no responsibility or had any presence in the area.

"I think we'll be looking for compensation."

A statement on the Cadent Facebook page reads: "This job has turned out to be a big challenge to fix and we’re trying very hard to get you back on gas as quickly as we can, safely. Each day this week we’ve made good progress, but then come up against something unexpected."

A spokeswoman for Anglian Water said: "Water and gas pipes in the area were damaged over the weekend and as a result water entered the gas supply network.

“We do understand that these are very difficult conditions for the local community and we are committed to working with Cadent and others work together to ensure services return to normal as soon as possible, especially as freezing temperatures continue.

“If any local residents have any questions we have a representative at the Ebenezer Gospel Centre on Orchard Hill.”