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If you smell gas, have low gas pressure, no gas supply or suspect carbon monoxide, call 0800 111 999 at any time of the day or night. Find out more about what to do in a gas emergency or if you suspect carbon monoxide.

Customer Care Team
0800 040 7766 (Option 4)

customercare@northerngas.co.uk

Connections Team
0800 040 7766 (Option 2)

gasconnections@northerngas.co.uk

Stakeholder Relations Team

stakeholder@northerngas.co.uk

Smell Gas?
0800 111 999
Day or night
Non-emergency calls
Customer Care Team
0800 040 7766

Carbon Monoxide (CO) can leak from incorrectly fitted, badly repaired or poorly maintained gas appliances as well as flues, chimneys and blocked vents.

Inhaling CO prevents oxygen from being carried around your body, even if it’s just a small amount. 

According to the NHS, every year there are around 40 deaths from accidental CO poisoning in England and Wales. In addition, about 4,000 people a year are admitted to A&E in England and Wales after experiencing CO poisoning symptoms, which are often mistaken for other illnesses, due to flu-like symptoms. People also mistake it for food poisoning, a cold or even a hangover. 

Make sure you protect yourself and your loved ones from CO poisoning.

A Carbon Monoxide alarm can save your life

Every home should have an alarm that alerts you to the presence of Carbon Monoxide (CO).  You can pick up an alarm from your local DIY store, supermarket or online. Your energy supplier may also be able to provide you with one. 

Did you know that if you have a gas boiler, you should have it checked by a registered Gas Safe engineer once a year. For more information, or to find an engineer near you, visit gassaferegister.co.ukThis link opens in a new tab or call 0800 408 5500. 

We're giving away 1,000 free Carbon Monoxide alarms to our customers this summer. Test your knowledge of CO in our online survey for your chance to claim a free alarm.

Terms and Conditions apply.This link opens in a new tab

Tap here to take part

Know the symptoms of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

Icon showing person with headache

Headache

 

Icon showing person throwing up into bin

Nausea

 

Breathlessness

 

Icon showing person being dizzy, with lines around their head.

Dizziness

Icon showing person collapsed on floor

Collapsing

Icon showing person collapsed on floor with stars around their head to show lack of consciousness.

Loss of Consciousness

If you think you’re suffering from Carbon Monoxide poisoning:

✔ Open all windows and doors

✔ Immediately go outside into the fresh air

✔ Seek urgent medical attention

✔ Call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999

I’ve seen so many patients suffer from Carbon Monoxide poisoning, but they haven’t been aware of the symptoms as they so often overlap between common illnesses such as respiratory viruses, flu, and even hangovers. Know the warning signs and seek help before it’s too late.

Did you know…

Many of our summer essentials can cause Carbon Monoxide (CO) poisoning if used incorrectly?

This includes BBQs, pizza ovens, camping stoves and heaters, chimeneas and other outdoor entertaining equipment.

If you’re planning to BBQ this summer, or going camping with gas-powered cooking and heating, make sure you stay safe by following the guidance below.

The BBQ safety checklist

Did you know that BBQ can give off Carbon Monoxide (CO) in an enclosed space even after it’s gone out, so always BBQ in a well-ventilated area.

To be CO safe this summer, remember:

  • Never bring a BBQ inside your home, tent, awning or any enclosed area.
  • Remember that BBQs and outdoor cooking equipment can give off CO even after they have gone out and are cold to the touch.
  • Always use your BBQ in an open area with plenty of ventilation. Keep it away from tents and sleeping areas.

If you are using LPG/ Bottle Gas BBQ:

  • Remember to check your equipment before using. Ensure it’s in good working order and that hoses are securely attached and not damaged.
  • Always be sure to only use and change your canisters in a well-ventilated, open space. Follow the manufacturer’s guidelines carefully and turn off the supply properly before doing so.

 

Packing the essentials…

Sunscreen? Check. Swimwear? Check. Carbon Monoxide alarm?

Because you can’t see, smell, hear, or taste Carbon Monoxide (CO), you won’t know it’s there.

Whether you’re staying in a holiday home, resort, camping or caravanning, pack a portable CO alarm which will alert you if it detects the silent killer is present.

Real life stories

  • Learn about Kris’ story
    1

    Show less

    When a beeping carbon monoxide alarm kept going off in Kris Dilllon’s home, he was forced to take action.

    “Our boiler is situated in an internal garage above my eight-year-old son’s bedroom.” Kris explains. “My wife called me one day to explain that the carbon monoxide alarm that we have in the garage was randomly beeping. I just thought it was the batteries, so asked her to replace it with new ones and see if it stopped. When she called back to say it was still beeping and had been for the past 20 minutes, we googled what to do and called the National Gas Emergency helpline.

    “An engineer from Northern Gas Networks arrived within 20 minutes of us making the call. They did a gas reading and confirmed that carbon monoxide was present in the room and that the reading was quite high. I was shocked.”

    The emergency response engineer then capped the gas in Kris’s home to make it safe until a Gas Safe registered engineer could come out to fix the problem.

    “NGN offered us electric heaters and a stove while our gas was off, and extra blankets to keep warm. The following day, someone came to service the boiler and confirmed that carbon monoxide was no longer leaking from it, reassuring us by taking several further readings.”

    Kris and wife Carly had had the same boiler in place since buying their home seven years ago. “It was the original boiler that was in there when we bought the house but it isn’t particularly old and it’s a reputable brand. We’d had it serviced a few times, but it was due another service last year and we forgot. You just put these things to the back of your mind and think it won’t happen to you. This was a wake-up call.”

    Kris’s son, whose bedroom is above the garage, had complained of feeling unwell the night before the CO alarm started beeping. “Looking back, we wonder if that was down to the gas being emitted and we didn’t know. It’s scary to think what could’ve happened if we hadn’t had an alarm in there.”

    Kris and Carly have since bought more carbon monoxide alarms and put them on every floor of the house on NGN’s advice and scheduled in reminders for an annual boiler service and chimney sweep. “It’s just not worth the risk. Please check your appliances and get a CO alarm. It could save your life.”

  • Learn about Ummay's story
    2

    Show less

    Ummay Alam was seven months pregnant when she went for a routine checkup with her midwife.

    While carrying out the standard blow test, which is designed to detect whether carbon monoxide (also known as CO) is present in a patient, Ummay was shocked and alarmed when the reading came back as level 6 – a red flag that the patient is at risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.

    She explains: “I couldn’t believe it. At my previous midwife appointments, my results had always been level 1. Up to level 3 is fine, anything between 4 and 9 is cause for concern, and anything above 9 is considered dangerous. To be at level 6 was a shock as we get our boiler serviced every year and the only other gas appliance in the house is a cooker.”
    Following advice from her midwife, Ummay’s husband contacted Northern Gas Networks and we came out the same day to carry out a full assessment on the property. The Gas safe registered engineer confirmed that the gas cooker was omitting CO.

    Ummay adds: “Stupidly we didn’t have a carbon monoxide alarm fitted in the house as we never thought things like this happened. It’s been a real wake up call. Our cooker is only five years old; we bought it when we moved into the house, but looking back we had had problems with it cutting out for the past year or so and even had engineers out to look at it who didn’t spot any signs. We didn’t think anything of it.

    “I was kind of aware of the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning, but I’d never have put two and two together as I was heavily pregnant at the time and a lot of the symptoms – nausea, fatigue, headaches – are all similar. I am so glad the midwife picked it up.”

    Being pregnant meant Ummay was eligible for the Priority Services Register and qualified for to have her cooker repaired with new parts, free of charge. “Saving that money was really helpful with an impending newborn, and Northern Gas Networks came to the rescue within just a few days.”

    Ummay and husband Mishbah welcomed their first child, daughter Yaseerah, in September 2024.

What to do if you suspect Carbon Monoxide (CO) poisoning

✔ Open all windows and doors

✔ Immediately go outside into the fresh air

✔ Seek urgent medical attention

✔ Call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999

The National Gas Emergency Service is a free service, available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

You will speak to a trained advisor who will talk you through the steps that you need to take.  They will arrange for one of our emergency engineers to be sent straight out.  They will then carry out a full safety check, make the situation safe and provide you with safety advice.

We're giving away 1,000 free Carbon Monoxide alarms to our customers this summer. Test your knowledge of CO in our online survey for your chance to claim a free alarm.

Terms and Conditions apply.This link opens in a new tab

Tap here to take part
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