Blundering workmen left residents shivering when they cut off gas to homes in Wimbledon as temperatures plunged last week.

Supplies to homes on Kingston Road were disrupted for three days, after a mistake by workmen replacing crumbling gas mains beneath the street.

A spokesman for utility company Southern Gas Networks (SGN) said its staff had personally visited the affected homes to apologise for the mistake, which saw supplies to some homes turned off without warning last Monday.

Angry residents from six affected buildings called the gas company the next day to complain - although some flats did not have their supplies restored for another two days, in a week when temperatures dropped below freezing.

The SGN spokesman later said workmen had originally only meant to turn the gas off for a few hours, but failed to reconnect the supply. Staff also forgot to warn residents their gas would be turned off for any length of time.

Councillor Diane Neil Mills, who represents Abbey Ward where the cut off took place, described such mistakes as “unacceptable” and warned the lengthy gasworks had already angered residents.

She said: “People are very frustrated by the protracted timescale.”

SGN’s work to replace Victorian gas mains with more modern plastic piping began in July 2008 and is not set to finish until October this year.

The project has caused huge traffic disruption in Wimbledon town centre, with work currently affecting streets including Sir Cyril Black Way, Hartfield Road and the Broadway.

A statement about the project on SGN’s website states: “We have been working closely with Merton Council, the emergency services and Transport for London to plan this project in such a way as to keep disruption to a minimum while meeting emergency access and pedestrian safety requirements.”