31 January 2003 00:00 EME engineers bring 16,000 Lincolnshire customers back on power overnight - 31 January 2003 – 0845hrs

Engineers from East Midlands Electricity have been battling to bring Lincolnshire customers back on power after blizzard conditions affected thousands of homes in the county.
At the height of the storm around 36,000 customers were left without power but, after EME engineers worked through freezing conditions, 16,000 homes have had their power returned. The majority of customers remaining off power are on the East Lincolnshire coast.
Bob Taylor, Managing Director of EME, said: “We’ve been aware for days that this storm was coming and so we made sure we had plenty of engineers in Lincolnshire ready to go.
“However, as the gale force winds and driving snow battered the county it became clear that it simply wasn’t safe for our guys to continue working because they’d have to go up poles and deal with fallen cables. In addition, some of the roads they were driving on were simply treacherous.
“What we decided to do was to pull in engineers from other areas in our patch and bed them down overnight in Lincolnshire ready for when conditions improved. mf
“That’s now happened and I’m glad to say that our engineers have been out since the early hours of the morning bringing thousands of people back on power.
“I can guarantee that we’ll be doing everything we can to get everyone back on as quickly and as safely as we can.”
To report danger or damage people should ring 0800 056 8090.
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For more information contact:
Janet Morrow on 024 7642 5779
Jonathan Smith on 024 7642 5741