Goose causes power cut in Barnard Castle

A goose caused an electrical outage in parts of Barnard Castle this month, while electricity was cut to the upper Gaunless Valley the next day so that a fire could be extinguished.

A spokesperson for Northern Powergrid said: “Two separate incidents affected electricity supplies in the area on July 7 and 8.

“On July 7 at around 2pm, a high-voltage fault in Barnard Castle was caused after a goose brought down overhead electricity conductors.

“Our teams responded quickly, restoring supplies to the majority of customers while the fault was investigated.

“Once the damage had been located, repairs were completed safely and power was restored to all affected customers by 11pm.

“On July 8, a separate incident involved a fire beneath overhead electricity lines.

” After an initial brief interruption, supplies were restored.

“Later, at the request of the fire service, power was temporarily disconnected to 1,964 customers to enable crews to tackle the fire safely.

“Subsequent patrols identified damage to overhead line equipment.

“A further planned interruption affecting 113 customers was therefore required to allow our engineers to carry out repairs.

“The safety of the public, emergency service colleagues and our team is always our priority.

“Throughout the incident, our teams worked closely with the fire service and only interrupted supplies where necessary to ensure emergency response and repair work could be carried out safely.

“We recognise the inconvenience power interruptions can cause and would like to thank customers in Teesdale for their patience and understanding.”