Power cuts misery is bringing chaos to villagers

Reporter: Ken Bennett
Date published: 06 February 2023


A hillside Saddleworth community has faced a week of misery with sporadic power cuts causing chaos.

The Old Original, which sits at the centre of Scouthead, lost power on three occasions with their cuts starting last Tuesday when they first lost power for several hours during the evening.

On Thursday, power went off at 4.30 pm and came back on at 10pm costing  them the entire night’s business.

And on Saturday, they lost power again from 8pm until 9.45pm.

A spokesman for the Old Original said: "Whist we understand unforeseen power cuts can occur, especially remote areas, the most annoying thing last night was that the outage was caused by the emergency generator running out of fuel.

“This cost us a great deal of money and disruption for our customers. 

"The energy company were not very sympathetic, saying they are not negligent in anyway. 

"We spent a long time on the phone last night and there was not one senior manager available at ENWL.

“We hope our customers understand we are even more distressed than they are that their evening was spoilt.”

And a local Scouthead resident said their home had been cut off six times during the week.

“It’s been chaos and caused untold misery,” she said.

“The power cuts started on Friday, January 26, then Tuesday 31st.

"A couple came during the day when we were trying to work.”

A spokesperson for Electricity North West said: "Unfortunately there are multiple issues affecting both the overhead lines and underground cables in the area. 

"We have teams of engineers on site installing 11 more generators today (Sunday) to restore power quickly while we make permanent repairs over the next few days. 

“There may be further short power cuts as we install and remove generators as needed, and we are speaking directly to people and businesses in the area who are affected. 

“We thank customers for their patience and understanding as we work hard to fix these issues as quickly as possible.

"If anyone needs any additional help and support, please contact us by calling us on 105."


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