Blackout affects 6,000 properties (From Stroud News and Journal)

Blackout affects 6,000 properties

STREETS were plunged into darkness, shops shut early and pub-goers were drinking in candlelight after power cuts affected nearly six thousand buildings in Stroud.

The chaos began at around 8.30pm on Wednesday, when residents and businesses in Cashes Green experienced total blackout.

Customers at the Prince of Wales pub on Cashes Green Road were watching the Chelsea vs Bayern Munich match when the power went off.

Fortunately, fans didn't miss the result thanks to the chef's stamina and a battery-powered radio.

Barman Christian Taylor said: "We had the radio on in the kitchen and the chef kept running out to deliver updates.

"The street lamps went, everything. When I was walking home last night I kept falling down pot holes and kerbs.

"I got home about midnight. The power came back on as we walked through the door, then 15 minutes later it went back off."

Across the road on Queen's Drive, the King Chippy fish and chip shop had to close early.

Proprietor Sue Thompson said: "The power went off just after 8 o'clock so I was fumbling around trying to clean up."

Shop assistant Jane Moss, who works at the nearby Spar convenience store, said: "They just closed at 9 o'clock here. Normally we close at 10. The papers didn't get sent back because it was too dark to do anything."

The problems continued throughout the night for some customers. Then at 2.00pm on Thursday, 3,401 homes and businesses in central Stroud experienced a second power cut.

With engineers already on hand, it was resolved within half an hour.

Central Networks East, the company responsible for Stroud's electricity supply, said that the first power cut, affecting 2,520 customers, was the result of an underground voltage fault.

A third party cable was to blame for the second.

A spokeswoman for Central Networks said on Thursday: "We understand that this is causing difficulties for people in Stroud and apologise for any inconvenience. We have had engineers working through the night to rectify it."

All the power was restored by late afternoon Thursday.