Power cut again in Liverpool as cable blows up

Mar 25 2008 by Laura Sharpe, Liverpool Daily Post

MORE than 1,000 homes were left without power yesterday after a cable blew up outside a primary school.

The underground cable caught fire and flames and smoke billowed from the pavement opposite Corinthian School, in Stoneycroft.

Vera Beeny, 85, said she was left stranded in her living room and couldn’t use the toilet while her stair lift had no power.

Mrs Beeny, of Abacus Road, said: “If the power doesn’t come back on I don’t know what I’ll do.

“I’ve got limited mobility and I can’t get upstairs to the toilet or my bedroom without the stair lift.

“My house bell doesn’t work and I worry about other people like me who need extra help and might be on their own in the cold and dark.”

Homes in the Stoneycroft areas were left without power from midday, the third power cut to hit the area in as many weeks.

Lorraine Donnelly, 55, who lives on Corinthian Avenue, said: “My house alarm went off when the power went and I looked out of the window and saw flames flying out the pavement.

“There was smoke billowing out and the pavement slab had lifted with the force.

“It’s a cold day as well for people to be without heating.”

Former city councillor, Keith McCullough, of Acanthus Road, said: “It’s lucky this didn’t happen on a school day when all the kids are on their lunch, they could have been stood where the cable blew up.

“I’m a diabetic and I rely on insulin from my fridge, older people rely on the electricity for heating and keeping warm, how do they cope when this happens?

“We pay a premium for our electricity and we expect a good service, not for our power to go off regularly, without warning and for unknown lengths of time.”

Mr McCullough said the first power cut lasted five hours and happened on March 11, the second on March 16 and lasted another five hours. Jim Durney, team leader for Scottish Power, carrying out the repairs, said he hoped the power would be restored by 11pm last night.

He said: “It’s unfortunate this area had suffered with a number of cuts.

“We were there within the hour and managed to restore power to all but a few streets in the area.

“The problem was caused by wear and tear and couldn't be predicted. In this case the ‘breach’ has blown which is a more serious problem than a fuse because it connects into many networks.

“We have had problems in the area and hopefully this breach might be have been the cause.”

laurasharpe