07 Dec 2015

Power restored to all but 300 homes in Lancaster and surrounding area (10:00 update)

Engineers from Electricity North West have restored power to all but 300 customers in Lancaster, Morecambe and the surrounding area.

Floodwater breached flood defences at Lancaster's main substation just before 23:00 on Saturday, cutting power to 55,000 properties.

Engineers have been working in the substation since 11:00 on Sunday when it was safe to enter and start repairing damage caused by the water.

Mark Williamson, operations director for Electricity North West, said: "Our engineers have done an incredible job and worked around the clock to restore supplies to almost 55,000 customers in Lancaster.

"All customers have been restored from our main substation, but 300 customers in the surrounding area are still without power due to localised flooding. While we still have a significant amount of work to do to fully repair the substation we are still on site to repair the damage.

"I'd like to thank customers for their understanding and their goodwill to our teams during what continues to be an enormously challenging time for everyone involved. We are immensely proud of the area and the people we serve in the way they have dealt with this incident."

Engineers will remain on site at the substation to continue additional repair and restoration work to equipment affected by the floodwater until all supplies are restored. 2,657 properties remain without power in Cumbria, where floodwater is restricting access for Electricity North West teams.

Mark added: "We will continue to work with the emergency services and our other partners in Cumbria to gain access to our sites and restore power to those still waiting to be connected as soon as the waters have receeded and we thank them for their continued support.”

Flood defences at Kendal and Carlisle substations have held, protecting supplies to 110,000 homes.

Electricity North West is posting regular updates on its social media channels and has drafted in extra support to its contact centre to handle customer calls.

Areas currently without power in Cumbria are:

Area Properties off
Lancaster 300
Fusehill area of Carlisle 1734
Cockermouth 218
James Street area of Carlisle 204
Appleby 161
Willowholme area of Carlisle 159
Grizedale 75
Mintsfeet area of Kendal 72
Melling 22
Ravenstone 10
Braithwaite 2
Total currently off supply 2,957