NIE in local contractor warning

Local contractors have been criticised by Northern Ireland Electricity (NIE) after nearly 1,000 customers lost electricity supplies after an underground electricity network was damaged in Co Tyrone.

The contractor was working in the Union Street area of Cookstown at around 5.30pm yesterday afternoon when the incident took place.

Over 850 customers were affected for over two hours during the incident and it is the 14th such case recorded by NIE in the last two months.

Fiona McClintock, NIE Customer Relations Manager for the area, warned contractors to take extra caution when working in the vicinity of underground cables. She added: "In this incident the cable was badly damaged and had to be replaced, leaving customers without electricity over the dinnertime period.

"Working in the vicinity of any electricity equipment can involve considerable danger and greatest care should be taken. We advise any contractors or private developers to contact NIE for marked up drawings of the underground electricity network before starting work.

"In the last two months there have been 14 incidences of contractor damage to the underground electricity network across Northern Ireland and with good working practices the number of faults of this sort could be radically reduced."

NIE have warned that any future occurrences of such a nature will result in the worst offenders being held up to account for the problems they cause local customers.

(MB)