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Stelios Constantinou, who lives on Narcissus Road |
Businesses and homes hit by 3-day blackout
1,500 buildings plunged into darkness
PUBS and restaurants in West Hampstead have lost thousands of pounds after three days of power cuts plunged around 1,500 homes and businesses into darkness.
Supplies were cut to streets between West End Lane, Mill Lane and Sumatra Road at around 7.40pm on Monday and were not restored until 6am on Tuesday.
But the power restoration was short-lived as the lights went out again at 1.30pm, forcing some residents to spend another night in the dark. Many were still without power last night. (Wednesday)
David Locke, who owns La Brocca wine bar and restaurant in West End Lane, said it had cost his business more than £3,000.
“It’s been a complete nightmare,” he said. “We’ve had fridges defrosting, we’ve thrown away tonnes of food and we had a whole evening and a lunchtime where we were unable to do any business.
“This is about the fourth or fifth time this has happened in the last couple of months. We’ve already got a claim for £4,000 outstanding from the last time. It’s a disgrace.”
Frustrated residents also spoke of their anger at the situation.
Stelios Constantinou, an architect who lives in Narcissus Road, said: “I work from home because in this recession I can’t afford the cost of an office, but now I can’t do anything because my computer isn’t working and there’s not enough light.
“That’s nearly two days that I’m not earning any money.”
His neighbour Shelley Astron, 25, a personal assistant, added: “I don’t appreciate paying £100 a month for this shambles of a service.
“I can’t work, I can’t contact anyone, I can’t have a shower, I can’t cook.
“There’s no central heating and there are a lot of elderly people living in this area for whom that can be dangerous.”
Jeff Stubley, who owns Hampstead Electrical Services in West End Lane, said: “They only repair things when they go wrong and don’t spend any money on preventative measures.
“A lot of these cables haven’t been changed since the 1970s so at some point someone’s got to spend an awful lot of money sorting this out.”
A spokeswoman for EDF said: “We are constantly working to improve the performance of our network and to meet the future needs for power.
“The company has invested £400million in its electricity networks this year. Unfortunately, despite this investment, some faults do still occur.”
She added: “We do appreciate how difficult it is to be without power and would like to apologise for the inconvenience caused.
“We are sorry for any business losses incurred during this interruption, but this is always a matter for the customer’s own business insurance.” |
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