Faulty cable causes power cut misery

8:22am Friday 9th May 2008

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THOUSANDS of homes were hit by power cuts last week, leaving some residents without electricity for more than 24 hours.

About 50 properties in Sterling Avenue, Edgware, lost electricity at 5.30am on Thursday after an underground cable developed a fault.

EDF Energy restored power to 17 customers by 2.25pm, but the rest were left waiting for electricity until after 9pm.

At midnight the power failed again and 50 homes were without power until the following afternoon.

One elderly resident, Sonia Diamond, 86, said: "It was so cold. I couldn't make a cup of tea or anything.

"It was not good for me and there are a lot of elderly people living down here who found it hard."

Mrs Diamond, who has rheumatoid arthritis and finds it difficult to move easily, had to rely on cups of tea brought to her by her daughter Lesley Diamond, who lives in the same road, but was not affected by the power cuts.

She said: "My mum had no heating or hot water and she nearly injured herself on Thursday night because she couldn't see where she was going.

"I was very worried about her, but nobody seemed to take responsibility."

More than 1,500 homes in Hampstead Garden Suburb were also affected by power failures on Thursday night.

Residents in the Finchley Road area experienced an interruption to their supply at about 8pm.

Almost half of the homes affected had their supply reconnected within a minute, but more than 800 homes had to wait for up to two and a half hours for power to be restored.

A spokeswoman for EDF Energy apologised to residents for the inconvenience caused.