Electricity supplier Belco is urging residents to trim any trees that overhang power lines in a bid to reduce unnecessary outages.

The call came after homes in Devonshire suffered blackouts on Monday and Tuesday, both of which were caused by falling palm fronds on the property of Michael Dunkley, the Shadow Minister of National Security, Health and Seniors and area MP.

According to a Belco spokesman, both outages – which affected around 350 customers – were caused by a palm frond becoming entangled with a line.

Last night Mr Dunkley said he had been off the island during the power cuts, but had been made aware of the situation.

He added that the trees had been cut back earlier this year and that he had been in contact with Belco more recently to arrange to have the trees trimmed again.

“It shows the importance of keeping the Belco lines clear,” Mr Dunkley said. "In this case I'm guessing the trees are maybe 50ft tall – they're 20 or 30ft taller than the power lines.

“So it wasn't simply a matter of doing a bit of trimming. The work had to be done by professionals in order for it to be done safely, with Belco's involvement, and I've been talking to them regularly in the past few months in order for that work to be done.

"I've been talking to Belco again in the last few days so that we can rectify the situation."

The company advised that, with Hurricane Earl expected to bring strong winds to the island by tomorrow night, residents needed to ensure that tree branches were cut back from any power lines.

Although the company does not provide a tree -trimming service for private properties, it will disconnect electricity supplies while trimming is in progress – but needs a three week notice period.

Shelly Leman, the managing director of Belco’s transmission distribution and retail division, said: “Trees and foliage hitting power lines are a main contributor to power outages through the entire year and especially during storms.

“As an example, falling palm fronds caused two outages that impacted approximately 350 customers on Monday and Tuesday of this week.

“Property owners are advised to trim their trees at a minimum of ten feet away from power lines to prevent an outage. It is important to be safe while trimming your trees and property owners can call Belco on 295 5111 to schedule a power shutdown for your tree trimming.

“However, Belco asks that such requests are arranged three weeks in advance so that there is ample time to schedule your requested outage.

“It will not be possible to arrange an outage for tree trimming before the winds from Hurricane Earl begin to affect the island later this week as our teams continue to prepare for any potential impacts.”

• UPDATE: This story has been updated to show that Belco does not provide a tree trimming service for private properties but can arrange for power to be shut off at a specific location so that tree trimming can take place safely.