Almost 3,000 homes in the East End were without power for at least ten hours yesterday after a high voltage cable was damaged by Belco workers.

The electricity supplier said in a statement that one of four transmission cables which service the East End was damaged by a crew working near the Flatts substation yesterday morning. Belco spokeswoman Linda Smith added: “ At that point no one lost power. However, as of early this afternoon, two of the three cables remaining became overloaded and stressed resulting in further faults.

“At that point the Belco Operations Centre conducted a controlled de-loading of a majority of the circuits feeding the East End in order to prevent the entire East End of the Island from losing power.”

She said about 2,800 customers across the East End were without power from just after 1 p.m. Power was expected to be restored by about 11 p.m. last night.

Areas affected included Tucker’s Town, Mullet Bay, Harrington Sound and Shark Hole. The town of St. George, L.F. Wade International Airport and Grotto Bay Hotel still had power.

Ms Smith said: “The cause of the accident will be investigated.”

Power cut hits the East End