§ Mr. Swainasked the Minister of Power whether he will make a statement about the number of gas leaks which have occurred during the conversion of Burtonon-Trent to North Sea gas supplies; and whether he will take steps to ensure that these occurrencies are not repeated as other towns are converted.
§ Mr. FreesonI am informed that as a result of a leakage survey in the Burton-on-Trent and Swadlincote districts since conversion to natural gas, the East Midlands Gas Board have repaired about 150 leaks in mains and services. In finding these leaks the board have used a recently developed detector of great sensitivity.
Leaks attributable to natural gas are chiefly caused by the drying effect of the gas on certain joints in gas mains. All boards are taking steps to ensure that the risk of gas leakage is reduced to a minimum.