Electricity restored after power cut in Newbury town centre

Some 30 properties on Bartholomew and Pound Streets affected

SOME 30 properties in Newbury town centre plunged into darkness last night (Sun) have since had power restored, after an overnight electricity cut lasting almost seven hours.

Scottish and Southern Energy (SSE) confirmed the cut, at 10.20pm, affected 30 properties in Bartholomew Street/at the junction with Pound Street, due to a cable fault.

"Engineers repaired the cable overnight and the power was restored by 5:10am this morning. We’d like to apologise for the inconvenience," said Emily MacDonald, a spokesperson for SSE.

Contractors arrived at the junction of Bartholomew and Pound streets at 10.30pm yesterday evening (Sunday), with a pneumatic drill and digger, along with several vans and mobile generator and proceeded to dig up the pavement outside the Vinh Kee Chinese takeaway in Bartholomew Street.

Pneumatic drilling work continued for three hours, until 1.30am, beneath the windows of sleep-disturbed residents of several flats situated above the immediate vicinity, with reports of vibrations felt in the properties.

The incident was the second such power cut affecting properties at the Pound Street/Bartholomew Street junction in recent months.