28 March 2006 00:00 Multi-million pound boost for local electricity distribution network in Lutterworth and Rugby nearing completion

Electricity distribution company Central Networks’ £4.6m project to reinforce the local power supply is well on the way to finishing work on a new substation to supply north Warwickshire and south Leicestershire.

The new substation, which is located between Lutterworth and Pailton, now needs to be connected to the existing overhead line, which crosses the B4207 Lutterworth Road between Magna Park and Pailton.

Work began earlier this month to build a new 132,000V pylon next to the substation and now scaffolding and netting will have to be put up over Lutterworth Road before conductors on the overhead line can be connected to the new pylon.

Existing temporary traffic lights will remain in place while scaffold bridges are built (and then dismantled) but the road itself will not be affected for the duration of the work.

The scaffold bridges are going up next week and are expected to come back down in late May. In between these times, the traffic lights will be removed and the stretch of road beneath the overhead lines will be open as normal.

Central Networks Project Manager Adrian Cooper said: “This is a huge project for us and we’re making this investment to support all of the housing, industrial and business developments that this area has seen in recent years.

“While this project will ultimately be of great benefit to our customers locally, it unfortunately does also mean some inconvenience for users of the Lutterworth Road.

“But I can assure everyone that we’re working closely with the relevant local authorities to get this work done safely and with as little disruption and inconvenience as possible.”

Ends

Notes to editors:
•Central Networks is the new name for Midlands Electricity and East Midlands Electricity. The company brings power to 4.9 million customers across the East and West Midlands through 133,000km of underground and overhead cables – enough to go round the Earth almost four times – 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 further information contact:
Rebecca Middleton on 024 7642 5779
A selection of Central Networks pictures is available free of charge to the media by registering at www.newscast.co.uk and looking under Distribution