Obscure gas meter question, emergency cut off valve quest

Quite a niche question. New to me flat. Previous owner boxed in gas meter, to do this they removed the valve handle which now can’t go back on. Can the valve mechanism be spun 90 degrees or is it a cutting the boxing out job. Any work to the valve will be done by the meter company just want to know if I should remove the box in bits in advance. Helpful photo below;

Not easily most likely, the valve would of been wound on to the thread of what looks like barrel pipe, it would of been screwed down until it basically didn’t turn any more.

It would need to be turned either an additional 1/4 turn or backed off 3/4 of a turn, neither may not be possible.

Phone your gas supplier saying you can’t turn off your gas supply and they will send out Transco to remedy it sharpish, they have guys on standby for quick reaction solutions when there’s a safety issue

The supplier wont touch the valve as that belongs to the gas transporter (Cadent round where I am). They will do it, don’t think they’d charge you, but they would certainly be keen on getting a handle put on there as they don’t like it if there’s no way to shut the gas off.

Chuck your postcode here… https://www.energynetworks.org/customers/find-my-network-operator and give the gas people a call.

It can be turned off, just get a spanner that fits the square top (adjustable spanner will do)
But yes phone Cadent or whoever does your area, had to use them a few weeks ago as the regulator on the top of my new meter was leaking, from the time I phoned them till the technician was leaving with it all sorted was 2hrs.

It would need to be turned either an additional 1/4 turn or backed off 3/4 of a turn, neither may not be possible

Yes that was my worry, half a turn and it would be fine. The meter owner has said they will come out just curious as to how it can be fixed with the least work for me 🙂

God knows why they boxed it in like this, completely pointless. They left the handle next to the meter, ffs.

If you’re taking the box off, why not just replace the handle yourself? I suspect that’s all Cadent will do if you get them in. They don’t care about making it look nice or allowing the box to be replaced, only gas safety.

I’d rather not replace the box, it’s properly built and matches the skirting boards. If they say it has to go so be it but if they can just spin the valve that would save a lot of grief and re-working.

You might get lucky with having the valve repositioned if the engineer that turns up is amenable, but sadly, I’d not count on it.

That message on the side of their vans that read ‘Smell gas? Call free…’ if they identify a leak after the meter by doing a pressure drop test, they don’t fix it, just lock it off and make it your problem. Like I said it’s a safety service primarily.

tthew

You might get lucky with having the valve repositioned if the engineer that turns up is amenable, but sadly, I’d not count on it.

That message on the side of their vans that read ‘Smell gas? Call free…’ if they identify a leak after the meter by doing a pressure drop test, they don’t fix it, just lock it off and make it your problem. Like I said it’s a safety service primarily.

Not in my experiance, after fitting a new meter regulator my Cadent chap said there was still a small leak somewhere. Traced to the gas hob and he fitted a new gasket to that as well, maybe I was lucky who knows?

Ours didn’t get fixed, just locked off, funny enough was also the cooker. They did give us a couple of little fan heaters and a plug in single hob though as it was winter. Pretty decent of them and very much appreciated as it took a couple of days to get properly repaired..

Traced to the gas hob and he fitted a new gasket to that as well, maybe I was lucky who knows?

Similar for a gas fire, but this was 20 years ago

Quick update.

After looking at it a fair few times I decided it was unlikely that anything could be done to turn the valve without cutting the panel to the left of the gas valve, close examination showed that the valve was so tight against the panel that it was slightly bowed, so that’s what happened today. Bought a cheap screwfix oscillating multitool with a wood plunge saw blade and that easily cut a 15cm square hole in the panel and the handle now goes back on the valve and turns the gas off. Just need a cotter pin to go on to secure the handle, I might stick that on rather than waiting for Transco to come and do it. Will be covering the hole with either an empty junction box or if possible just the lid for the box.