A power company has again been forced to apologise to businesses after they experienced their sixteenth power cut in eight months yesterday.

But UK Power Networks blamed a new fault for the latest outage and says it is still carrying out investigations into the problem.

Traders in North Finchley say they have lost tens of thousands of pounds as a result of being forced to close during the power cuts, with at least one business moving out of the area because of the issue.

Finchley and Golders Green MP Mike Freer said today he would be holding “frank” talks with the energy company, who issued the latest in a string of apologies to customers.

A UK Power Networks spokesman said:  UK Power Networks sincerely apologises to customers in North Finchley after their power was interrupted yesterday due to a fault on the underground electricity network.

“Investigations into this will continue this week in order to identify and repair the fault. This was unrelated to the previous outages in the area which were due to a piece of equipment in a substation which was replaced as a matter of urgency as soon as it was identified.

“We do understand the frustrations of our customers over this issue and members of our senior management team are currently arranging a meeting with local MP Mike Freer to discuss the concerns of his constituents.”