Shops and homes hit by power cut chaos

nlnews@archant.co.uk
08 September 2005

THOUSANDS of pounds worth of business was lost in Crouch End on Sunday after 1,400 shops and homes were plunged into a power blackout.

Electricity shut down in the area at 9.33am and was not restored completely until after 5pm.

Energy bosses have blamed the blackout on a fault in a major underground cable.

John Krahn, manager of the Haelan Centre, described the loss of trade as a "killer".

He said: "It was an absolute nightmare. To lose that amount of takings is a killer for a small independent shop like us.

"Sunday is actually our second busiest day of the week,we can do more trade on a Sunday than a weekday - even though we are only open for four hours.

"I had to throw away £500 worth of chilled stock as the temperature got too high in the fridges - and there is no way you can take a risk with something like that."

At Petter Pharmacy on The Broadway, staff served customers through the gaps in the electric shutter at the front of the shop, which had become stuck shut as power failed.

Mansie Patel, manageress, said: "We still had a pharmacist in the shop for people and we were still serving things through the grille at the front, but our staff were running backwards and forwards all day."

A spokeswoman for EDF Energy apologised for the inconvenience.

She added: "A fault on the underground cable interrupted power to around 1,400 customers in Hornsey at 9.33am on September 4.

"EDF Energy routed power around the fault to reconnect supplies to 739 customers at 10.54am. A further 182 supplies were restored at 11.53am and engineers completed work to reconnect the final customers shortly after 5pm."

Councillor David Winskill (Liberal Democrat), of Crouch End ward, is concerned about the level of power failure in the second major blackout in the area over 18 months.

He said: "This is the second time in 18 months this has happened. The Broadway is one of the main commercial centres in Haringey and will have lost a considerable amount of takings on Sunday.

"It is also a massive inconvenience for shopkeepers and customers alike.

"We have had to put up with a whole year of chaos thanks to the utility companies."

alison.campsie@archant.co.uk