08 July 2004 00:00 More than 75,000 customers back on power in Central Networks region (0800hrs)

Engineers from Central Networks, the electricity distribution company for the East and West Midlands, have worked through the night to restore more than 75,000 customers affected by yesterday’s freak summer storm.

In the East Midlands – from the Lincolnshire coast to Warwickshire – around 53,000 customers were affected by the high winds and torrential rain at one time or another, but 50,000 of those have now returned to power. In the West Midlands – from Staffordshire to the Welsh Borders and the outskirts of Bristol – around 28,000 customers were affected, with all but 1,000 now returned.

Bob Taylor, Managing Director of Central Networks, said: “We were obviously aware that this storm was coming and so we were able to put our emergency procedures into operation.

“That meant we had our engineers out and about in the region so they could get to the faults pretty quickly.

“They worked through well into the night and then got out again first thing this morning and have done a cracking job.

“Obviously, one of the problems we had was that the high winds and driving rain meant that the engineers couldn’t get up the poles because it simply wasn’t safe but, once the weather cleared, they really got moving.”

As at 0730hrs, around 3,000 customers were still without power in the East Midlands – largely in Derbyshire and Lincolnshire – and around 1,000 across the West Midlands, scattered through rural communities.

Ends

Notes to editors:
Figures are likely to change as Central Networks learns of more faults.

For more information contact:
Jonathan Smith on 024 7642 5741
Out of hours ring 024 7642 4000 and ask to speak to the duty press officer