Two schools are set to reopen tomorrow, but at least 900 homes are still without heating after engineers have completed repairs to a gas line.

SGN said it would start to turn supplies back on in some parts of the CT6 area of Herne Bay on Sunday after the pipe was damaged on the day before – sparking an outage.

Both Herne Bay High School and Thornden Primary School have had their supplies reconnected and are able to open as normal tomorrow after closures today.

It’s been confirmed that 1,750 properties have been impacted. Residents left without gas for more than 24 hours will receive compensation.

The most recent statement by SGN at 8pm on Monday said: “Our engineers are continuing to restore gas supplies to customers in Herne Bay and have so far reconnected 850 properties to our gas network.

“This includes two local schools which are able to reopen tomorrow morning.

“This evening, we’re focusing on reconnecting our most vulnerable customers, including those on the Priority Services Register. We now know that 1,750 properties were affected.

“This is due to a number of customers who self-isolated and have now been confirmed off. We do not expect this number to significantly rise again.

“Visitors to our customer centre at St Peters Church have asked when their gas will be restored – please be assured that we’re working hard to restore everyone’s supplies as quickly as possible but we are unable to give timescales for specific addresses.

“Please do not attempt to restore your own gas supplies – for everyone’s safety, please wait for a visit from one of our engineers.”

The customer centre remains open until 9pm tonight and will reopen tomorrow 9am to 9pm.

SGN previously stated that they had brought in additional resources, including colleagues from Portsmouth, Oxford, London and Aldershot, to reach those affected.

People are advised not to turn their gas back on themselves and are assured SGN staff will be visiting every affected property.

Previously Herne Bay High principal Jon Boyes said the company isolated his school from the gas network and shut down all gas appliances, leaving the site with no heating and “very limited ability” to provide hot food.

“We have just spoken to the operational commander for the incident response and it is very unlikely any gas will be available until Monday at the earliest,” he said in a letter to parents.

“Then there is complexity about re-instating gas to properties – and particularly the school site due to its size.

“As such, we have made the difficult decision to keep the school closed on Monday in the first instance.

“This is an emergency, unforeseen closure and is a full closure of the entire site, meaning it is unsafe for anyone to attend school on Monday.

“We anticipate being able to open on Tuesday if SGN can fix the problem.”

Thornden Wood Primary School, in Greenhill, initially said it was not impacted by the issue but later confirmed it would have to close today (Monday).

Hampton Primary is not currently impacted by the problem.

SGN ran out of electric heaters yesterday after it opened a centre at St Peter’s Church, with vulnerable people earlier urged to attend and collect electrical appliances.

SGN says third-party damage occurred on its network on Saturday.

Temporary traffic lights were set up at the junction with Blackburn Road, however much of the route is completely shut.

One pensioner in Cornwall Road, who asked not to be named, told KentOnline SGN attempted to deliver an electric heater at 1.30am.

"We had a Ring doorbell notification, but no heater was left," she said.

"It's been freezing. My husband is asthmatic so he struggles a little more with the cold.

"We've got a small electric fire in the living room so we've been huddled up in there.

"Luckily I bought an electric blanket two weeks ago, which has proved to be the best investment.

"But we've not heard anything at all about what is happening and when the supply might be on."

Informed by our reporter about large crates of electric heaters further along Cornwall Road, the woman and her neighbour left to speak to workers about securing one.

Additional reporting by Brad Harper