Work to restore electricity to Sunderland homes and businesses after two days is complete, as firm appeals to affected customers to get in touch

Network repairs to make power available to Sunderland homes and businesses who have been without electricity since Tuesday are complete.
Residents have had somewhere to go for a hot drink thanks to the efforts of the Salvation Army and Northern Powergrid.Residents have had somewhere to go for a hot drink thanks to the efforts of the Salvation Army and Northern Powergrid.
Residents have had somewhere to go for a hot drink thanks to the efforts of the Salvation Army and Northern Powergrid.

Now Northern Powergrid, the company responsible for the region’s power network, is urging anyone who is still having problems to lets its engineers into their properties to carry out safety checks and get the lights back on.

The company says it has reconnected the final section of its underground network, making power available to all properties in the SR4 6 and SR4 7 postcode areas of Sunderland.

Salvation Army staff have been providing a breakfast service for residents today.Salvation Army staff have been providing a breakfast service for residents today.
Salvation Army staff have been providing a breakfast service for residents today.
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A spokeswoman said: "On Tuesday we received calls from around 30 customers in the SR4 area who were having problems with their electricity supply and seeing damage to electrical equipment in their homes.

"The safety and welfare of our customers is our priority so we isolated supplies for 494 customers from midnight on Tuesday.

"We have already restored power to more than 270 customers and this afternoon we have reconnected the final section of our network. We still need to visit the remaining properties to carry out some further checks before their power can safely be restored.

"We are sending texts and calling those customers that we still need access to their homes, our teams on the ground are also knocking on doors to help us progress our restoration work.

Salvation Army staff have been providing a breakfast service for residents today.Salvation Army staff have been providing a breakfast service for residents today.
Salvation Army staff have been providing a breakfast service for residents today.
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“We've mobilised extra teams from across our business and also specialist contractors, who have been on site throughout supporting our customers.

"Our customer support vehicles are providing hot drinks and mobile charging facilities and continually checking on any customers who may be more vulnerable in a power cut due to their personal or medical circumstances.

“Yesterday we opened, in partnership with the Salvation Army and Sunderland City Council, a local support centre on Rutland Street which has been helping customers and providing hot drinks and food to those affected," said the spokeswoman.

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"Teams from Northern Powergrid are also at the centre assisting customers and providing information. The centre has been open again today and will remain open into this evening.

"We are continuing to keep our customers informed through our teams on the ground 24/7 and by texting our customers directly with updates. We are actively encouraging local residents to ensure we can have prompt access to their property so we can complete our checks and restore power as soon as we can.

"Our specialist contractors have been working to assess the scale of any damage at customer's premises, focused on carrying out repairs to essential appliances, heating systems, cooking and lighting in the first instance. They will remain in the community supporting our customers until this work is complete and will also look at how we can further support those who may have damage to non-essential items.

"We will continue work to safely to restore power until all of our customers are back on supply. We are sorry for this disruption and thank our customers for their continued patience while we complete this essential work over the coming days.”

Northern Powergrid’s customer care advisors can be contacted 24/7 on social media through @Northpowergrid on Twitter or by searching for the firm on Facebook and by calling 105