04 August 2004 00:00 Central Networks customer support vehicle takes to the roads in West Midlands for first time

Central Networks, the electricity distribution company for the East and West Midlands, has despatched its customer support vehicle to the West Midlands for the first time.

The vehicle, which is staffed by customer service specialists who can offer advice and tips, has been sent to Inkberrow in Worcestershire after the village suffered at the hands of yesterday’s lightning storms.

Jim Lightfoot, Director of Customer and Network Operations at Central Networks, said: “This is the first time the van’s gone out in the West Midlands – although it’s been a pretty successful innovation in the East so far.

“We picked Inkberrow because we felt they needed some extra support after being badly affected by yesterday’s lightning storms.

“The staff on board can not only provide useful things like hot drinks, they can also give people a point of contact to find out more about what’s happening and about what Central Networks is doing to get the power back on.

“It was clearly a pretty bad storm yesterday but I can assure everyone that our engineers are working round the clock to make sure everyone comes back on as quickly as possible.”

The Interstar van, which was provided by Nissan, has been specially adapted and features office facilities and power points, as well as carrying torches, blankets and instant heat pads.

The van in the East was the first of its kind to be developed by an electricity distribution company and won praise from industry regulator Ofgem in a recent report into services to vulnerable customers.

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 the area around Bristol in the south and from the Welsh Borders in the west to the Lincolnshire Coast in the east.

For more information contact:
Jonathan Smith on 024 7642 5741