More than 3,000 homes in Northumberland have had their power restored after a blackout caused by a lorry coming into contact with electricity cables.
The affected area included Rothbury, Longframlington, Hepple and several surrounding villages as far west as Alwinton in Northumberland National Park. However, the issue has now been largely resolved by Northern Powergrid engineers, with power restored to most of those properties.
The incident involved a lorry coming into contact with electricity cables, dragging them down and causing damage to the transformer. Eight houses in the immediate vicinity of the incident are still without power.
A series of storms in recent months have caused huge problems in rural Northumberland, with some properties being without power for more than a week following Storm Arwen late last year. However, this time it was a quick fix for most of the 3,100 properties affected.
Steven Bridgett, Northumberland County Councillor for Rothbury, said: " I think people are a bit sick of all the powercuts we’re getting but on this occasion it’s not the fault of Northern Powergrid."
Northern Powergrid issued a statement to say: "At 11.34am we received a call in regards to a third party who had brought down an overhead cable close to a public footpath. Further damage was also reported to the transformer which the cable was connected to.
"Due to the safety of the public, at 11.44am the power was isolated to 3,100 properties in the area until our engineers attended to make the equipment safe. At 1.06pm the power was restored to 3,092 properties leaving eight properties without power until the final repairs can be made.
"The current estimate to make the repairs is 6pm this evening."
