|
|
 |
| |
Generator which residents claim is noisy |
Anger over week of power failures
Pub forced to shut twice as lights go out
REPEATED power cuts have plunged streets into darkness and left business owners and residents fuming at electricity giant EDF.
The lights have gone out in Kentish Town and Tufnell Park three times in the last week, hitting 700 EDF customers.
Residents have complained that they are being driven out of their homes by the noise from a huge generator sited outside Acland Burghley School in Ingestre Road, Tufnell Park, to keep supplies flowing.
The power cuts, which began at lunchtime on February 12 when a sub-station failed, are crippling businesses, according to Chris Leech, proprietor of the Junction Tavern in Fortess Road, who faced severe losses when a second cut on February 14 threatened his Valentine’s Day business.
He said: “We had to close on the 12th and lost all of that day’s business, then spent a nervous time when the power went off for three hours on the 14th as we were preparing for 100 bookings that night, putting all the food on ice.”
The lights went out again on Thursday at 9.30pm when the bar was full, forcing it to close. “It is absolutely infuriating, especially since they won’t tell us when it will go off again when they turn the generator off,” he added.
Mr Leech said he was told by EDF the third cut occurred when engineers failed to refuel the diesel generator, a failure that an EDF spokeswoman denied on Tuesday.
Neighbouring traders had slept in shops during the cuts because security systems were down, Mr Leech said.
Helen Walker, a young mother living directly opposite the emergency generator in Ingestre Road, said she had been forced to move out to her sister’s house for two nights.
She added: “What is really irritating is that after the first cut we phoned EDF and were told what was going on, but by the third they had switched to an automated system. It was as if they had given up.”
The French-owned power company said yesterday (Wednesday) that it could not say how many times power had been interrupted in Camden since Christmas because figures were compiled on an annual basis. A spokeswoman explained that the sub-station failure on February 12 left customers without power for 21 hours until the generator was installed.
“Unfortunately a mechanical fault developed on the generator on February 14 at 12.30pm, interrupting power to the same 700 customers,” she added. It was repaired by 3.30pm.
She blamed a vandal who climbed the security fence at the generator for the third power cut on February 15.
“We would like to reassure customers that we are taking this matter seriously and it is anticipated that permanent repairs will be completed by the end of this week,” the spokeswoman added.
A spokesman for power regulator Ofgem said yesterday that customers were entitled to compensation if supplies were interrupted for 18 consecutive hours or on four occasions in a year.
|
 |
|
|
|
