The substation powers the sluice gates designed to remove 1 Million Cubic Metres of water, equivalent to 400 Olympic swimming pools, as part of the Environment Agency’s, £10m Castle Irwell Salford Flood Storage Basin protecting homes in Salford.
Operated by the region’s power network operator, Electricity North West, the substation has been vandalised three times in six weeks putting both lives and the flood defences at great risk.
Sean Leape, Area Manager for Electricity North West, said: “Entering any of our electricity substations is extremely dangerous and the people breaking in to this substation are putting both themselves and others in great danger, as well as putting the essential flood defences at risk.
“We’re urging the local community to report any safety concerns to us straight away.
“We’ll continue to work closely with the Environment Agency and the police to put in place extra safety measures to protect the substation to help ensure power continues to work the flood defences, especially as we’re coming into the winter months.”
John Greenway, Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire Catchment Engineer and Reservoirs Act Co-ordinator for Environment Agency said: “We want to reassure the community that the flood storage reservoir remains operational and continues to provide improved flood protection to the community.
“Whilst we have resilience measures and manual operating procedures available for the site should a flood event occur, this would put significant strain on our limited resources that could be better deployed elsewhere in the area in such a widespread flood event.
“We are working closely with Electricity North West to find a solution to improve security at the site allowing for the site to be operated automatically as designed going forward.”
Inspector Dave Whelan from the Salford Division of Greater Manchester Police said: “The flood defences were installed to protect residents and it is completely unacceptable that they’ve been vandalised and are therefore putting lives at risk.
“We are working hard to identify the people responsible for these incidents and would ask the community to pass on any information that could help us with our investigation.”
To report any electrical safety concerns call Electricity North West on the free number 105, or visit our website or find us on Twitter and Facebook.
To report any concerns regarding the flood storage reservoir call the Environment Agency on 0800 80 70 60, or visit our website or find us on Twitter and Facebook.
To pass on any information regarding the incidents please contact Greater Manchester Police on 101 or 999 in an emergency. Alternatively report it via LiveChat on the GMP website www.gmp.police.uk.
