Almost every home and business in a village has been reconnected to their gas supply after a pipe was accidentally flooded with water.

Denis Kirby, a spokesman for Southern Gas Networks which supplies Headcorn, said: “Virtually everybody is back on the gas now.

“We had engineers in the village on Sunday visiting homes to reconnect the gas. There are one or two people who were not in, who may be on holiday, but the engineers will have left cards in their doors for them to contact us.”

The problems began more than a week ago on Thursday, May 22, when contractors laying new gas mains in Grigg Lane for Southern Gas Networks bored through a water pipe, causing more than 100,000 litres of water to flood into the gas pipe.

The water pipe was quickly repaired but it affected 900 homes and businesses, including takeways, pubs and restaurants.

Many closed or offered reduced menus.

The water had to be pumped out of the gas pipe and engineers visited every home and business to make safety checks before restoring gas supplies.

Mr Kirby said all the company’s customers had been sent a letter which included details about how to claim compensation.

He added: “We would like to thank our customers for their patience. This has been a difficult job to fix.”