Residents in central Scotland are to be given just £30 in compensation after being left without with gas during some of the coldest days of the year so far.
Around 8,000 properties in the Falkirk area cut off as temperatures plummeted to as low as -4C on Sunday.
Gas network company SGN have been working to restore supplies to homes.
Properties in Carronshore, Larbert, Skinflats and Stenhousemuir were affected.
Engineers have since been able to reconnect gas to more than 5,000 homes.
The company has now confirmed that customers will be compensated £30 per household for each complete 24-hour period they were affected.
A spokesperson for SGN said: “With support from engineers from right across the UK , we’ve now reconnected gas to more than 5,000 homes.
“If you’re not in when we call to turn your supply back on, please don’t worry. We’ll leave our details and come back to visit you again as soon as we can.
“We’re being supported by our local authority partners to ensure that we’re able to get gas supplies onto the most vulnerable households as a priority.
“Thank you to all our partners in the local community for the help you’re giving both us and affected residents.
“You will receive compensation for the time you were without your gas supply, as agreed with the energy regulator Ofgem .
“If you’re without gas for over 24 hours, you will receive compensation per household for each complete 24-hour period you had no gas.
“This compensation is paid through your supply and will appear as a credit on your next bill.”
Some residents went to desperate means to heat up their families, including one mum-of-three who told the that she was sheltering her kids around the heater in her car.
Electric heaters and hot plates were also being distributed by SGN to residents at the Camelon Education Centre in Falkirk.
The gas network company added that it would compensate customers as a ‘gesture of goodwill’ for the additional electricity used to power the devices.
SGN’s statement adds: “In recognition of the severe weather that occurred in the first 24 hours of this incident and the additional electric you may have used to heat your home, we would also like to compensate you with an additional payment of £30 as a gesture of goodwill.
“This will be paid along with the above through your gas supplier.”
Falkirk Council announced that 14 schools and nurseries closed due to the mass outage.
The majority of the schools were reopened to pupils and students today.
