Neighbours fear there could be a gas explosion in their street due to a gas leak not being properly repaired.

People in Sherborne Way, Croxley Green, say the issue has been plaguing their street on and off for the last decade.

In the latest incident, on Sunday, they witnessed subcontractors for Cadent simply covering up potential leaking pipes with soil and tarmac.

Eric Driver, who lives in the street, said: “I told the subcontractors that the gas leak hadn’t been located or properly repaired but they said they were on a time limit to fill in the holes otherwise they’d be held responsible financially.

“The danger is that over time the gas builds up into pockets and sooner or later it’s going to come out.

“There are service boxes for internet and telephones nearby and with a spark we could have an explosion.

"It’s too many ‘ifs’ for my liking, but it could happen.”

Resident Geoff Langford, 72, said he called the emergency gas number on Sunday afternoon after smelling the gas coming from the pipes at the bottom of three holes in the road which had been dug several weeks ago by gas engineers investigating a leak.

He said: “A guy came out within the hour and he was very helpful.

"He said there’d be people down in the morning to sort out the leak, but then the subcontractors turned up and simply filled in the holes with soil and tarmac.”

Mr Langford criticised Cadent for leaving the three 'gaping holes' in the road for around ten days.

He says it caused huge issues for traffic problems in the area, particularly around the school run.

But a spokesman for Cadent said it can sometimes “take time” for holes to be “reinstated” because the work was done by subcontractors who have a number of jobs across the area.

He added the holes had been filled in because the leaks had been repaired, and that the company was now investigating a separate gas leak on the street.

He said the suspected leak was from a gas service pipe.

He said: “Very small readings of gas have so far been detected and our engineers are continuing to investigate these – they are not currently at a level which necessitates a continuous presence on site but we are continuing to monitor and investigate.

“Safety is our priority. We may sometimes leave the site to return later but no site would be left if it were posing a potential risk to the public and all potential gas escapes are regularly monitored.”

Suspected gas escapes should be reported on 0800 111 999.