05 November 2004 00:00 Metering Services’ Hereford Hero saves home from blaze

A Metering Services Ltd (MSL) employee’s valiant actions have saved a family home from going up in smoke.

Quick thinking Steve Watkins, a meter reader for MSL, which is part of electricity distribution company Central Networks, saved the day for a Hereford family when he raised the alarm as their home filled with smoke.

“I was at the house to read the meter, but no one was home,” said Steve, from Hereford.

“From outside I could smell smoke and, when I pushed the letter box, smoke came billowing out.”

He immediately called the emergency services, who discovered that a saucepan had been left on a lit gas ring and was about to go up in flames.

Steve said: “Once I knew the fire service had the situation under control, I just carried on with my rounds – it certainly wasn’t something I have to deal with every day of the week though.”

Steve has been praised for his professionalism, and has been nominated for a Metering Services recognition award for dealing with a potentially dangerous and difficult situation calmly..

His team co-ordinator Paul Hannah said: “We’re very proud of Steve’s actions, he really saved the day for the family concerned.”

Ends

Notes to Editors:
• Metering Service Ltd is a part of Central Networks;
• Central Networks is the new name for Midlands Electricity and East Midlands Electricity. The company brings power to 4.8 million customers across the East and West Midlands through 133,000km of underground and overhead cables and via almost 97,000 substations;
• Central Networks covers an area from the Peak District in the north to parts of Bristol in the south, and from the Welsh Borders to the Lincolnshire Coast;
• Metering Services Ltd (MSL) is responsible for all meter installations, maintenance and refurbishment for 2.3 million electricity customers in the West Midlands. It has a team of 1700 staff reading up to 10 million electricity, gas and water meters across the country.
• MSL conducts around 40 million meter reads annually and is a leading performer against all industry service benchmarks. The company has contracts with E.ON UK, British Gas Trading, npower, Scottish and Southern Energy, Scottish Power, Severn Trent Water and Northern and Southern Ireland Electricity Boards.

For further information contact:
Kathy Doyle on 024 7642 4292
Out of hours, call 024 7642 4000 and ask for the duty press officer