CALLS have been made for a public inquiry to be held to get to the bottom of the gas blast which left thousands of homes without a supply over Christmas.

Residents say they reported problems with a gas main in Holme Lane, Rawtenstall, to National Grid more than two weeks before an explosion at a sub-station led to 18,000 homes losing their gas supply.

Now it has emerged that the energy firm could be facing a bill of up to £2million to compensate people for being left without gas.

Bacup county councillor Jimmy Eaton said an inquiry must be held into the handling of the gas leak and the priority the company gave to fixing the fractured main.

He said: “If this problem was reported 17 days before the explosion then there needs to be an investigation into why it was left so long.

“If I reported a gas leak then I would expect someone to be there that day so I don’t know what has happened with this large gas main.”

Coun Eaton said he had been concerned to see residents of Olive House, in New Line, being moved as a result of the gas shortages.

“These people are 80 and 90 years old and they were moving them out just before Christmas Day. This kind of thing is enough to kill someone that age,” added Coun Eaton.

The county councillor added that engineers who worked, street-by-street, to reconnect supplies to customers had been brilliant.

Rossendale council leader Coun Tony Swain also backed calls for a public inquiry to see if lessons could be learned from the situation and to prevent future problems.

He added: “It was wonderful to see the community spirit shown by the people of Rossendale in getting through this crisis.”

Alex McDonald, of Newchurch Road, Stacksteads, had to flag down an engineer to restore his supply on Christmas Eve.

He said: “There should be an inquiry - what were they doing for all that time? We have been told they were waiting for specialist equipment to tackle the problem but what was happening before the explosion?”

Only a few hundred homes in Bacup, Waterfoot, Newchurch, Rawtenstall and Crawshawbooth are now without gas following the explosion which severely disrupted supplies on December 22.

But up to 18,000 homes and business across the valley could be entitled to cash payouts because of the supply breakdown.

Households qualify for compensation of £30, for every 24-hour period they were affected, and companies can receive £50, under similar conditions.

But National Grid officials are remaining tight-lipped over the cost of the four-day operation to restore gas to Rossendale homes, which made headlines on TV and radio stations nationwide, although an investigation was launched into the circumstances surrounding how it happened.

Following the incident officials said the leak had been assessed by engineers followuing complaints but had not been deemed a priority.

Around 300 engineers were drafted in from around the country as a result of the incident. The team, which worked street by street reconnecting supplies, would have been entitled to extra payments for working on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

Jeannette Unsworth, National Grid spokesman said: “We are down to the last few hundred homes in terms of reconnections.

“And most of these are people who have been away for Christmas and New Year where we have not been able to gain entry to the property.

“We have left cards urging these people to contact one of our engineeers as soon as possible.”

The compensation payouts will be handed out automatically to customers through their normal gas suppliers, she added.

“Everyone affected by this will be liable for £30 for every 24-hour period. They do not have to do anything to claim the money as it will paid to them automatically through their normal gas supplier. We have all the figures for who was affected and for how long.”

If every domestic customer affected received two days compensation for lost supplies, the bill would total £1.08million, with the bill rising to £1.62million for three days and £2.16million for four days, and possibly up to £100,000 for businesses.

The company, which is responsible for maintaining the national energy network, reported operating profits of up to £1.08billion in November.