POWER CUT UPDATE: Police say vandals or thieves could have caused fire to electricity cables (From News Shopper)

POWER CUT UPDATE: Police say vandals or thieves could have caused fire to electricity cables

5:02pm Wednesday 22nd July 2009 in

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POLICE are keeping an open mind on whether the fire that brought a power cut to thousands of residents was caused by vandals or thieves.

A fire on a cable bridge at the Riverside Industrial Estate in Dartford broke out on Monday leaving nearly 100,000 people in Dartford, Bexley and Orpington without electricity.

Power company EDF Energy Networks said tonight it now expects permanent power will be restored to all remaining customers tomorrow morning (July 23).

Its engineers are continuing to work around the clock to restore electricity.

The majority of Bexley customers have had their power supply permanently restored, with the remainder having access on a rota basis.

Members of the public can view the supply timetable at www.edfenergy.com or by telephoning the EDF Energy Networks Emergency Contact Centre on 0800 028 0247.

Key sites including care homes are being prioritised for the supply of on-site generators.

At a press conference this afternoon, Detective Chief Inspector Andrea Bishop from Kent police said: “It could be vandals or it could be an attempt to steal metal from the pipes.

"It is difficult to say what the motive was.

“It would have been very dangerous dealing with electricity, which is clearly a cause for concern.

“It’s difficult to say how they got in there because of the damage caused to the towers.”

She added: “We can’t jump to any conclusions as to the cause whether vandals or attempted theft.

“This is going to take time in terms of forensics, we have to make sure we have maximised those opportunities.”

DCI Bishop said police have checked with hospitals for anyone who has been admitted with any burns.

She said: “It was a very remote location in Dartford. We would appeal to anyone who saw anything suspicious.

“The people who did it were in touching distance of live cables.”

Bob Lane, EDF Energy's director of network operations, has been quoted as saying "From our investigation, we believe two substantial locks on metal doors at either end of the cable bridge were cut with heavy duty tools."

Anyone with any information should call Kent police on 01474 366091.

Comments(27)

AMJ says...
7:00pm Wed 22 Jul 09

Well what has the UK come to?
One of the worst countries to be in with children gone wild and their parents who’ve lost control of them don’t care enough to raise their kids properly. The vandals who set fire to the electricity cables should take full responsibility as well as their parents, they should be made to pay for the damage caused as well as named and shamed for all to see but with this being England and the lenient laws and punishment that we have here the vandals will only get off with a warning making it seem ok for others to pull dangerous stunts like this in the future. The law needs to change harsher sentences need to be given out and parents need to take more responsibility for their children’s actions other wise when will this end?