20 January 2007 00:00 UPDATE – Customers off halved overnight by Central Networks engineers, reinforcements arrive – 0800hrs

An estimated 8,100 customers remain off power in the Central Networks region and the company has brought in engineers from regions less badly hit by the weather.

Around 5,000 customers remain without power in the East Midlands and 3,100 in the West Midlands and Central Networks has now called in engineers from Western Power Distribution (which covers the South West and South Wales) to help restoration efforts.

Jim Lightfoot, Director of Customer and Network Operations, said: “We’re very aware that some of our customers have been off for the best part of two days now and we can only apologise for that.

“But our engineers worked long into the night again and started first thing in the morning having got thousands of people back on power overnight.

“And now our colleagues in Western Power have got the situation in their region under control we decided to call them in to get some extra bodies on the ground.

“Clearly it’s very frustrating for our customers who are without power but I can assure them that we’re working as hard as possible to get the lights back on.”

Customers are advised to stay away from any fallen power cables that they might come across and to contact Central Networks on 0800 056 8090 (East Midlands) or 0800 328 1111 (West Midlands) with details of the location.

“At times like this we’d also ask people to check on any vulnerable neighbours that they might have to make sure that they’re OK,” said Jim.

People should leave a light on so that they know when the power has been restored. In addition, sensitive electrical equipment should be switched off.

Ends

Notes to editors:
Estimated county by county breakdown of outages:
Gloucestershire 50
Herefordshire and Worcestershire 1,400
Shropshire 250
Staffordshire 1,200
West Midlands 200
Coventry & Warwickshire 150
Northamptonshire 300
Leicestershire 200
Lincolnshire 2,350
Nottinghamshire 1,000
Derbyshire 1,000

The media can call the below numbers for more information:
Jonathan Smith on 024 7618 3676
Emily Highmore on 024 7618 3680
ISDN available at 024 7642 5147
Out of hours, the media should ring 024 7642 4000 and ask to speak to the duty press officer