Light at the end of the tunnel (From Knutsford Guardian)

Light at the end of the tunnel

2:50pm Friday 18th January 2013 in News By James Wilson

A NEW substation is to be built in a Knutsford car park in a bid to stop the power black outs that have blighted town centre businesses and residents in recent years.

Around 35 King Street businesses lost out on business in the Christmas 2012 rush when lights, hot water, heating and electricity went off on December 20 and 21 on one of the busiest weeks of the year.

Scottish Power told the Guardian at the time that an underground cable fault in Church Walk was to blame for the blackout and an excavation team was sent out to fix the problem.

Hugh Thomas, from Scottish Power, visited Knutsford Town Council’s Environment Committee on Monday where he revealed a new substation was to built on King Street car park to ensure similar problems don’t happen again in the future as part of a £4.5million spend on the town.

“We have experienced problems over the years with our network in Knutsford, especially around Christmas when the demand goes up significantly,” he said.

“We’ve had problems with the wear and tear of equipment in Knutsford because most of it is outdoors but the new programme of work will move it indoors, which will protect the network and improve the supply and reliability.”

But he warned that part of King Street may well have to be dug up in the future to lay the cables.

Councillors warned him that when this last happened, the contractors carrying out the work did not relay the town’s historic cobbles – protected by conservation orders – and urged Mr Thomas to ensure this did not happen again.

Mr Thomas added the substation would be brick built and in place by the ‘end of the summer’ if everything went to plan.

l What do you think about a new substation planned for King Street car park? Let us know by emailing the newsdesk at knutsford@guardiangrp.co.uk or sending a tweet to @KnutsfordNews.