HUNDREDS of residents were left without power following an ‘explosion’ at a substation caused an area-wide outage.
Fire crews were called to the incident in Whitehawk Crescent in Whitehawk, Brighton and were seen putting up a cordon around the substation while engineers isolated the substation.
The outage was first reported shortly after 3.30pm on Wednesday, September 21, leaving as many as 800 properties without electricity for a number of hours.
Engineers were eventually able to conduct repairs and recover power for almost all the houses affected by around 6.30pm.
Muhammad Dheher, who lives in Whitehawk, said: “I was in my car next to where it happened and all of a sudden there was a big bang.
"It was one of the loudest bangs I’d ever heard. There was lots of white smoke that came up but it disappeared quickly.”
Pictures from the scene showed two fire engines setting up a cordon around the substation. It is believed that after assessing the situation the fire crews left at around 4.15pm.
A number of residences were affected across Whitehawk and Roedean in the BN2 5 postcode area, with a number of businesses in the surrounding area also hit by the outage.
Brighton and Hove City Council reported that it had been forced to close the Stanley Deason Leisure Centre in Wilson Drive “until further notice” as a result of the power cut. Outdoor pitches were available until sunset.
According to information on the UK Power Networks website, the power outage was caused by an underground electricity cable which faulted on the high voltage network.
UK Power Networks have also apologised for the power outage, adding that “our staff will continue to work around the clock to keep the lights on”.
In a statement, a spokeswoman for East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service said: "At 15:34, we were called to attend Whitehawk Crescent, Brighton following reports of an explosion at a substation.
"Crews from Roedean and Preston Circus attended. On arrival, firefighters confirmed that there was an issue with a substation but there was no fire. Crews cordoned off the scene and EDF were called to attend to isolate the substation."
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