A lucky escape for a workman who narrowly avoided electrocution when digging a grave has resulted in a potential 18-month headache for a Teesdale parish council.
The incident occurred when the man encountered a buried cable in the extension of St Mary’s Church cemetery, Whorlton, in September.
Mistaking the cable for an old, disused waterpipe, he attempted to cut through it with a hacksaw, only for it to explode with a load bang. The worker, who declined to comment about the incident when approached by the Mercury, escaped serious injury.
Northern Powergrid were called out and repaired the cable, but the incident has left Whorlton Parish Council with a delicate problem to solve.
The existence of the cable, which carries power to the sewage works approximately 150m from the cemetery, wasn’t identified during the planning application process.
The cable’s path takes it under several plots, some of which have been sold in advance.
Speaking at the parish council meeting, clerk Alan Dixon said: “There was an incident where a wire was found and somebody was nearly electrocuted. I’ve contacted Northern Powergrid to ask exactly what the procedure is because the line seems to be passing (under) a number of graves.
“It was found near to the last grave on that row.
“We may have to request that the cable be moved. If Northern Powergrid do the work, there’s an 18-month waiting time.”
Councillors debated the option of paying for the work to be done out of parish council coffers to speed up the process but the cost was unknown and potentially prohibitive.
Council chairman Cllr George Stastny said a provisional plan had been drawn up showing an alternative route for the cable that wouldn’t affect any of the plots.
Councillors agreed that the next step would be for the clerk to contact Northern Powergrid to establish the potential cost of moving the cable.
