18 May 2004 00:00 Central Networks warning on substation vandalism in Birmingham

Central Networks has sent out a warning to would-be vandals after a substation in Birmingham was broken into last night.

The attack, when vandals got into the substation in Thornbury Road in Perry Barr and tampered with vital equipment, blacked out around 1,000 customers for around 50 minutes from 6.30pm.

Jim Lightfoot, Director of Customer and Network Operations at Central Networks, said: “Whoever broke into this substation is very lucky not to have ended up badly injured or even dead.

“Substations are very dangerous places, which is why we make them as secure as we possibly can and put very clear warnings on the outside.

“If you ignore the nuisance value to our customers, the individuals who did this were quite literally dicing with death.

“The message we have to get out to people is to stay away from substations – it’s only safe for qualified staff to go inside.”
Central Networks became aware of the problem in the Perry Barr area at around 6.25pm and got engineers to the substation within 15 minutes. Once they checked for damage, they were able to restore supplies within 50 minutes.

Areas affected included Melrose Road, Witton Lane, Aston Lane and Canterbury Road.

Ends

Notes to editors:
Central Networks is the new name for Midlands Electricity and East Midlands Electricity. The company brings power to 4.8 million customers across the East and West Midlands through 133,000km of underground and overhead cables and via almost 97,000 substations.
Central Networks covers an area from the Peak District in the north to parts of Bristol in the south, and from the Welsh Borders to the Lincolnshire Coast.

For more information contact:
Jonathan Smith on 024 7642 5741