Residents terrified as gas leaks for the second time in a month

For the second time in a month, residents of Wornington Green in North Kensington have had to abandon their homes after a gas leak threatened to blow up the neighbourhood.

Munro Mews is part of the first phase of the Wornington Green redevelopment and has only a few tenants left waiting to be moved out; this was  the scene of a major gas leak from an empty property on Monday 15 November. Residents were evacuated by the fire brigade, and were unable to return for seven hours, left sitting in a local cafe.

Landlord Kensington Housing Trust has been moving people out of their homes before they are demolished and redeveloped. But there have been constant complaints about lack of security in the empty homes, with squatters and others breaking in. Just last month another empty house nearby in Wornington Road was the cause of a leak, due to KHT failing to cut off gas, water and electricity supplies when residents moved out.

The few residents left in the Mews are the elderly and vulnerable for whom KHT have not yet been able to find a new home. One, who did not wish to be named, said: 'A neighbour banged on the door and told me to run. We called the emergency services and they told us to keep well away. When the fire brigade went in to the empty house where the leak was coming from they were shocked to find live electric wires and the gas still connected. It is normal practice to disconnect everything when a house is left empty. The fire brigade then went into all the other empty houses and were even more shocked to find they had all been left connected. Some have been empty for months. We could all have been blown to smithereens. We had to sit in the cafe for seven hours. Kensington Housing Trust don't care about us. We asked for more security, then this happens - twice!'

Cllr Emma Dent Coad  said: 'This is the result of an incompetent and uncaring landlord. Repairs and maintenance around the rest of the estate is woeful; now this. Kensington Housing Trust's lack of care is putting lives at risk.'

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