BUILDERS are being blamed for bursting a water pipe which flooded gas mains cutting supply to hundreds of Cricklewood residents.

The incident started at around 11am yesterday cutting gas to around 280 properties with engineers having to shut off the supply and pump the water from the pipes.

National grid say all the water has now been cleared, but are struggling to reconnect some homes as people are not there to give them access to their properties.

Overnight officers from Barnet Council visited the scene and co-ordinated the handout of electric cookers and heaters to affected vulnerable residents.

Thames Water, which owns the water mains, says it believes third party building works caused it to rupture rather than the cold weather.

National Grid incident controller Tom Murray said: “We have worked closely with the London Borough of Barnet and Thames Water to resolve this incident and get people’s gas supplies reconnected as soon as possible.

“I would like to thank local people for their understanding and patience during this time and apologise for any inconvenience.”

A mobile command unit has been set up in the car park of Matalan in Cricklewood Broadway and will be there until midday tomorrow to take any queries from affected residents.