Would-be thieves have caused repeated power cuts in an Oldham village after tampering with electricity generators.

The incidents happened over the weekend in Scouthead, Saddleworth as vandals switched off several generators in attempts to make away with litres of diesel.

Electricity North West, who operate the region’s power network, had to install 15 generators on its network following power cuts on both its overhead and underground network on Saturday.  

Chris Armstrong, Electricity North West’s area manager for Greater Manchester, said: “The initial power cuts need considerable repair work to be carried out by our teams.

“To ensure customers could be restored as quickly as possible, we installed generators across the network.

“Overnight, would-be thieves have tampered with the generators, switching them off and attempting to steal the diesel which caused further issues for customers in the area. Fortunately, the generator’s security features ensured no diesel was stolen but it’s still a dangerous thing to do and I can’t stress enough that people should stay away from the power network, and our generators.

“I’m appealing to the local community to keep an eye out for any suspicious activity in the area and ask anybody who may have any information to report it directly to the police.”

As well as carrying out repair work, Electricity North West engineers will also be upgrading parts of the network which will help provide a better quality of supply to residents and businesses.

Work is expected to be completed by Thursday and when engineers disconnect the generators, customers will experience a short interruption whilst supplies are restored to the main power network.