Final homes reconnected to electricity supply after power cut which hit hundreds of Sunderland premises

Northern Powergrid says it reconnected the final section of its underground network yesterday, making power available to all properties affected by the power cut which happened in the Millfield area of Sunderland on Tuesday.

At the height of the problems, 480 premises were affected.

The company teamed up with the Salvation Army to offer support, food and drink to residents left without a supply.

This morning, the company, which is responsible for the region's power network, completed checks and restored supply to all those properties it can gain access to.

It says it has a process in place for those vacant properties where supplies have been isolated so that customers can contact them and arrange to have their supplies restored once they have returned to the address.

Yesterday it appealed for residents to get in touch if they were still suffering issues after the problem was repaired.

A spokeswoman for Northern Powergrid said: “Early yesterday afternoon we reconnected the final section of our power network in Millfield, as such we have maintained a constant presence on site, continuing to visit customers' properties where we could gain access to carry out checks and assess any damage that may have occurred to any appliances.

“Since Tuesday we've had extra teams from across our business and specialist contractors supporting our customers.

"Customer support vehicles have been providing hot drinks and mobile charging facilities, while staff continually checked on any customers who may be more vulnerable in a power cut due to their personal or medical circumstances.

“We also opened, in partnership with the Salvation Army and Sunderland City Council, a local support centre on Rutland Street which has been providing information to customers and giving out hot drinks and food to those affected.

"The centre stayed open until lunchtime today.

“Our specialist contractors will remain on site over the coming days focussed on carrying out repairs to essential appliances, heating systems, cooking and lighting in the first instance.

"Once this work is complete they will also look at how we can further support those who may have damage to non-essential items.

"The safety and welfare of our customers has been at the centre of our response.

"Throughout we have worked with our partners from Sunderland City Council, contractors, the Salvation Army and British Red Cross to ensure we could provide non-stop support in the communities affected and keep our customers updated about what we’ve been doing to restore power to their homes.

"We are very grateful for our partners’ support and for the patience and kind words from many of our customers over recent days.

"We’d also like to thank our teams and contractors for their dedication and hard work so we could respond to this as quickly as possible for our customers."

Northern Powergrid’s customer care advisors can be contacted 24/7 on social media or by calling 105.

For more information visit www.northernpowergrid.com/.