Paul Meadley Operations Manager NGN said: “We continue to receive a larger than usual number of calls from customers in and around the Billingham and Wynyard areas of Teesside, and more recently some calls from the TS3 and TS6 areas of Middlesbrough. The calls are to report a smell that people are concerned is natural gas.

The safety of our customers is our priority and our rapid response engineers are investigating each and every report and as of yet we have not found any evidence of an issue on the gas network that could have caused this.

We do get incidents like this from time to time. In the past, we have traced it to things like factory discharges, aviation fuel, smells from docks activity, and many other reasons.

We continue to work with the local Environmental Agency and local authorities to establish the source of the smell.

As always, if you smell gas, please call the National Gas Emergency Service immediately on 0800 111 999. This line is in operation 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”

End

For further information about the work please contact NGN’s Customer Care Team on 0800 040 7766 or email: customercare@northerngas.co.uk.

Anyone that smells gas or suspects carbon monoxide should call the National Gas Emergency Service immediately on 0800 111 999. This line is in operation 24-hours a day, seven days a week.