Almost 100 South Tyneside homes without electricity after powercut

About 95 Northern Powergrid customers on Alnwick Road and Straker Terrace, in South Shields, have been left without power since the incident took place at about 8pm yesterday.

The fault relates to an underground cable, but a team from the electricity network distributor had been unable to fix it as it was located underneath a parked car.

A spokesman for Northern Powergrid said: "Our engineer attended site and a fault was discovered on an underground cable.

"A team attended during the night however the location of the fault was underneath a parked car and we were unable to identify the owner of the vehicle.

“The car was moved this afternoon and we are coordinating a repair and aiming to have customers back on supply this evening.

“We’d like to thank our customers for their patience while we carry out this repair work and get everyone back on supply.”

One of the residents affected in Alnwick Road said: "I have been on the phone to Northern Powergrid four or five times and they keep saying it will be sorted within the hour.

"They said I might be able to get compensation, but that doesn't change the fact I'll have to throw everything that was in the freezer away.

"I've spoken to the workers that have been deployed here and they said we'd be lucky if it was fixed today."

Customers can get real-time updates by visiting northernpowergrid.com, using their smart phone, or by calling the company's contact centre on 0800 668877 or by using the new three digit power cut number 105.