A convenience store worker in Keith has donated a number of portable heaters for those affected by the gas switch-off in Moray.
Coming to the aid of those without heating, Munish Tandon has gifted seven electric heaters to members of his community after reaching out on social media.
Speaking to the Press and Journal, the director of Keith Convenience Store, said: “It’s absolutely freezing.
“Some folk won’t have any kind of heating, especially worrying for the older people and those with young children.
“Everyone is in the same boat and we really need to make sure everyone has something to help keep warm, especially in the current weather conditions.
“Some are sitting indoors with layers of jackets.”
In a Facebook post Mr Tandon said: “As everyone knows there is no gas in Keith today.
“We have some electric heaters so I can give to elderly people for use day or two until gas back to normal.”
Unfortunately, many people were turned away as messages flooded his inbox, he added: “We’ve had a little more than seven inquiries but unfortunately we only had seven to give out – all heaters are already out.”
Heaters on wheels
Speyside tree service worker, Sean McDonald, also reached out to the community offering to transport heaters purchased from Argos online, whilst covering jobs in the area.
His partner, Natalie Braithwaite, posted to Facebook with the offer.
She told the Press and Journal how the lack of heating has affected her family.
“I’m cold, we have a wee two-year-old that’s had to have chicken nuggets for his tea because we’ve no gas to cook much else.
“Keeping the wee one warm is the priority.”
She added: “It’s just nice to see all the help being offered, I just hope it doesn’t last too long, in part because the poor guys outside fixing it must be freezing.”
Disruption
Residents in Keith and Huntly have had no gas since the early hours of this morning, affecting heating in homes during one of the coldest mornings of the year.
It is understood that the gas supply may be off for a considerable amount of time with SGN in urgent talks with Aberdeenshire and Moray Council about mitigation for residents.
This could last until Thursday.
An Incident Management Team has been set up across the local authorities to help with the ongoing issue.
Distribution points could be set up across Huntly and Keith, where electric heaters will be handed out to those who have no other way of warming up their homes.