About 18 homes could be without gas for several more days after a car struck a main yesterday.

Suppliers SGN say the repair work has turned out to be complex.

But the affected householders are being covered with electric heaters and portable hot plates.

The homes were affected by the accident at Bullockstone Road, Herne Bay, yesterday (Sunday). A nearby caravan site was also evacuated as a precaution.

A spokesperson for SGN told KentOnline today. “We need to repair the section of the main, which the car drove into. This is complex and requires spare parts.

“There is no timescale for the households being reconnected but it may be a couple of days.

“However the occupants have been understanding and they are covered with electric heaters and portable hotplates.”

The properties have had no gas since 6pm yesterday and originally about 30 had been affected.

The crash had caused a leak on the gas line and the supply had to be isolated.

SGN engineers arrived at the scene at 6.30pm to assess the damage.

The road had to be shut by police between the A291 junction and the bridge over the A299 Thanet Way.

It was reopened at 1am today.

The victim of the crash was assessed by paramedics.