News

Anger after four days of power cuts in Yateley

By Laura Nightingale
February 21, 2013

FOUR days of power cuts in Yateley were the final straw for angry people fed up with the area’s poor supply.

Homes were left in darkness as power cuts and surges intermittently affected streets between February 9 and 12.

Residents considered the cuts as a ‘historical problem’ for the west side of Yateley, with some homeowners saying they spend hours in the kitchen to cook an oven meal.

Myra Billings, of Stookes Way, said: “The worse time to have no heating is in this weather and our house gets cold very quickly.

“A couple of years ago we had a really bad power cut for 48 hours and the energy supplier said we would not have another power cut.

“For four days we have been without power and had dim lights. Yateley used to be bad for its power cuts, then it got better and now it’s got worse again. It’s about time they did something about it.”

She added when the street lights went out it made her feel ‘very vulnerable’.

Some of the roads affected last week included Vigo Lane, Hall Lane, Manor Park, Lym-ington Avenue, Pattern Avenue, Calcott Park, Cornfields, Stookes Way and Betjamin Walk. Some residents had to cope without full power for a week and a half.

Chris Barnes, of Coppice Gardens, said: “What we have seen is some houses had power with no problems and some had half power half an hour before the power cuts.

“It must be something to do with phasing.”

Councillor Stuart Bailey, a Hart district councillor, said when he used to live on the west side of Yateley the power would not go six months without a flicker, but now he has moved to Hall Lane he has not seen a problem in 11 years.

Fellow councillor Graham Cockarill, of Blaire Park, said he was at a meeting last Wednesday and one of his colleagues had to leave early as the power went off at her home in Fleet.

Cllr Cockarill said: “If it is happening across the area, maybe we should write a letter to the power energy supplier as there is a pattern.”

Cllr David Simpson, a Hampshire county councillor of Bramley Lane, described the power cuts as a ‘pain in the backside’.

“My alarm goes off and my next door neighbour’s burglar alarm goes off when the power eventually comes on,” Cllr Simpson said. “I think we should write a strong letter to the power supplier because it is affecting 25% of Yateley.”

However, not everyone was upset about the cuts.

Mother, Rachel Hartland, said: “We have had a couple recently, but although a faff it is no great problem as we have a gas hob, gas fire and it is nice to sit by candlelight. It means we are forced to make time to sit and talk or read round the fire as a family, which is great.”

Duncan Mcdonald, spokesman for Southern Electric Distribution, said there had been a fault in the area and, as a result, Cornfields will have no power on Thursday, February 21 between 8am and 4pm to allow for repair works.

“We identified where the fault was, we did carry out repair work at the time but the problem continued,” he said.

“We do regular line checks and check our network in the area. Customers are often forthcoming so we can go out straight away. If customers are experiencing problems with their power, we urge them to give us a call on our freephone 24-hour number. Where fluctuations and flickers do happen, we ask people to call us so we can respond.”

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