A TOTAL of 630 homes and businesses are facing up to two days without gas after the supply lost pressure yesterday morning.

The supply went off in Lytchett Matravers in Purbeck just before lunchtime and villagers were handed electric cookers and heaters at the village hall.

The work to repair the fault continues this morning.

Lytchett Matravers Primary School have urged pupils to wear an extra layer today due to the lack of heating.

A message on their Facebook page said: "Important message. The village is currently having some issues with the gas supply and therefore the school is currently having heating problems.

"School will be open but heating may not be restored immediately.

"Therefore could you please ensure children have school jumpers and we advise an extra layer of clothing (vest etc).

"Feel free to include an extra jumper or fleece.

"We apologise for the slight inconvenience."

Up to 60 Southern Gas Networks staff and engineers were visiting on Sunday to speak to residents and work on the fault.

One villager, who asked not to be named, said: “We’ve been told there’s liquid in the gas supply and it could take ages to fix.

“It started in the morning and has affected the whole village.”

Anne Neilson, from Southern Gas Networks, said the village hall is being used as an “incident centre”.

She said: “We’ve got a loss of supply today.

“It appears that one of the pieces of equipment that sources the village has failed and we have lost supply to the village, which is around 630 customers.

“We’ve set up the incident centre in the village hall in the high street and have engineers on site.

“Electric cookers and heaters are being handed out to vulnerable customers.

"The engineers are visiting every property to turn the gas off at each meter.”

Mrs Neilson added: “We are working on the equipment at the same time.

“Once we have everyone safely turned off we will be able to reintroduce gas and then revisit all the properties again.”

The problem is expected to be fixed on Monday or Tuesday at the latest, she added.

Purbeck District Councillor Peter Webb’s home was not affected but he was on his way to his daughter’s house where they have lost their central heating.

“It’s unfortunate that it’s happened and it’s a great inconvenience for everyone,” he said.