"mickael" wrote in message ...

I returned from holiday to find that my gas had been turned off by Transco
after my neighbours had reported what they thought was a smell of gas
(incorrectly I believe). The Transco people couldn't detect any gas leak but
took the easy/safe/cover your orse option of switching off the supply and
putting a notice through my door with the lowest of the three categories
Concern for Safety ticked. The notice says: The gas equipment must not be
used. It is an offence to continue to use an unsafe appliance or
installation until tested by a CORGI registered installer.

Have you tried talking to Transco and asking them to come back (free)?
The situation where they can't get in and don't have enough
justification for breaking the door down can't be that unusual.
Indeed, I'm surprised there isn't a 4th category to cover it.

I hope that those of you who don't like your neighbours would not dream of
using the above to land them with a CORGI McWhopper invoice :-)

Indeed; this seems such a good ruse for malicious neighbours, that I'm
sure Transco should have thought of it. Unless you have reason to
believe otherwise, I'm sure your neighbours acted in your best
interests and you still don't know they did _not_ stop you returning
to a pile of rubble.

As to d-i-y, I think I would turn off the electrics in case of sparks.
Then if possible isolate anything that has a pilot, turn on the gas
and have a good sniff round. If you _do_ smell gas, then you know you
have a problem and will probably have to take the McWhopper route
unless it's something obvious like a tap not fully off. If you don't
smell gas after a reasonable period of time, then see what Transco
say, as above. Probably best not to tell them about your d-i-y -- turn
the gas off again, open a few windows (brrr) in case there is gas
somewhere and don't light up or turn the electrics back on for a
while.

Chris