Power cut hits 1,400 homes

8:37pm Sunday 11th May 2008

AN explosion at an electricity substation led to a power cut which affected 1,400 homes.

The 11,000 volt station on Bridge Street, Stoneclough, suffered only minor damage in the ensuing blaze, but the electrical fault left 1,400 homes in Kearsley without power for up to an hour.

A fire service spokesman said the problem was caused by a short circuit in an internal switchbox.

He said: "Those stations have 11,000 volts going through them, so when they go off, they go off."

Firefighters were called to the scene just after 7pm yesterday after residents reported hearing a loud bang and seeing smoke coming from the building.

The substation is operated by United Utilities.

A spokesman apologised for the loss of power and said repairs were ongoing.

She added: "The way we can get power back to people is by switching it over to other substations in stages, so different people would have come back on at different times.

"The last homes to come back on were at 8.30pm."

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