Power cut forces Midhurst shops to close

TRADERS in North Street, Midhurst were hit by yet another power cut on Saturday afternoon 23) forcing them to close on one of the busiest days of the week.
By The Newsroom
Published 25th Jan 2016, 13:46 BST
Updated 25th Jan 2016, 13:49 BST

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Sign at Ocean Blue fish and chip shopSign at Ocean Blue fish and chip shop
Sign at Ocean Blue fish and chip shop

Members of the public reported seeing a ‘massive spark’ in the roadworks close to Tesco and then businesses along the road lost their electricity.

Power went off at around 1.20pm on Saturday and was not restored until the evening.

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Tony Barron who owns the Ocean Blue fish and chip shop said: “We lost the whole evening’s trade - our second busiest night of the week, it really slaughtered us.”

“We weren’t able to open at all after the lunch time trade. But we are lucky compared with other traders here who have been hit several times. This has cost me a fortune and I am concerned because the electrical contractors haven’t finished yet. It’s very frustrating because there is no facility for compensation.”

A spokesman at Costa Coffee said staff were forced to close at 2.30pm when they had a total loss of power and did not open again until Sunday morning.

“We lost all the food, milk and cream in our fridges and have now had about four power cuts. We have lost a lot of money.”

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The previous Friday evening businesses the other side of the road at The Angel Hotel, Faustino’s Restaurant and The Olive and Vine also suffered a power cut.

A spokesman said; “Southern Electric Power Distribution would like to apologise to customers who were affected by a power cut on Saturday afternoon.

“We had to take some customers off supply so a fault on an underground cable could be repaired. Out of the 27 customers affected, 18 had their power restored by 4.23pm. The remaining nine had their power restored by 6.57pm.”

Contractors are working to repair a series of urgent electrical faults in Midhurst in a two week programme which is set to end on Wednesday (January 27).

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Related topics:MidhurstTradersNorth StreetTescoCosta Coffee