Thousands blacked out in Old Town power cut (From Swindon Advertiser)

Thousands blacked out in Old Town power cut

10:29am Tuesday 31st January 2012 in News

BUSINESSES and residents across Old Town were plunged into darkness after a power cut yesterday afternoon.

Businesses stopped trading, the petrol pumps were off in Newport Street and the Co-op was evacuated when the power went at approximately 4pm.

Nearly 2,500 premises were affected by the incident before the power went back on just under an hour later.

A spokesman for Scottish and Southern Energy said: “It was a safety trip on a high voltage network due to an underground cable fault. Engineers were dispatched and tried to identify the cause.

“A total of 2,489 premises were affected and we apologise for any inconvenience caused. Engineers re-routed the supply and power was back on by 4.52pm.”

Work is expected to be completed on the fault today.

Speaking at the time, Robyn Reed, a sales assistant at Urban 18, said: “I can’t actually do anything. The till has gone off, all the lights have gone off and the phone has gone off.”

Narendran Thuraisamy, shop assistant at the petrol station in Newport Street, said that they needed power to be able to work.

“We are losing the custom but sometimes there are problems and there is nothing you can do,” he said.

Ilpa Patel, manager of Victoria News, carried on serving and was working without lights or a till through the powercut.