South Norfolk: Powercut For Thousands

26 March 2013, 06:14 | Updated: 26 March 2013, 12:32

Power has now been restored to the last few hundred homes after thousands were without electricity overnight in South Norfolk.

The IP22, NR14, NR15, NR16, NR18 and NR19 areas have all been affected by what  UK Power Networks are describing as a to a high voltage underground fault that needed extensive repairs.

UPDATE 740am:  NR18 More engineers are now on site to assist with repairs.  They are still aiming to get power on by 12:00

UPDATE 820am:  Due to the potential that we'll have to shut a major road for repairs, the estimated time for the power to be on is now 15:00.

UPDATE 1020am:  Engineers are working hard in the #NR18 area. They are aiming to have the power back on by 13:30.

UPDATE 1230pm: Power now restored and below is a statement given to Heart by UK Power Networks:

"UK Power Networks engineers has now restored power to 511 customers in the Silfield area of Norfolk after a section of our overhead power cables came down in the area early this morning.
The cables were reported to have come down at about 4.20am today and our engineers worked as quickly as was safely possible to return all supplies to normal by noon.
Yesterday in Long Stratton an underground cable fault also caused a power cut for some customers in that area from 3pm and flickering supplies for other customers.
Unfortunately this damaged another cable on the network supplying villages in the Wymondham area at about 6.40pm.
So at one stage last night there were about 2,500 customers without power in the area spanning from Wymondham to Long Stratton.
We repaired the cables and returned power supplies in stages, with the majority on by 11pm and the final customers on by 4.10am today.
We would like to sincerely apologise to all the customers affected by the faults in these areas. We realise how difficult it can be to be without power and would like to thank our customers for their patience."