Electrical fire plunges over 100 residents into darkness

5:07pm Saturday 22nd December 2007

By Claire Fry

SHOPS, homes and businesses have been plunged into darkness in Worcester following an electrical fire this afternoon.

Firefighters were called after smoke was seen coming out of the Friar Street service area of the Cathedral Plaza at 1.30pm.

People inside the shopping centre had to be evacuated for around 40 minutes as firecrews made sure the area was safe.

But for many shopkeepers in Friar Street and Sidbury, the powercuts - which hit 106 properties in the area - caused major disruption on their busiest trading day of the year.

Julie Rankin, manager of the shop Wish, based on Friar Street, said her electricity went off at around 2.30pm and they had to light candles to be able to see and show customers they were still open.

"It is terrible. Nobody has come in to tell us what is happening and all the shoppers are going home. This is meant to be the busiest day of the year. It couldn't have come at a better time. I am really annoyed about it," she said.

Miss Rankin added she now had no phone lines and also her cash register was not working, and did not think her insurance would cover her.

Hazel Dugmore, of Pen Connection, also on Friar Street, said: "People just aren't coming in. They think we are closed. This is meant to be our busiest day and there is just nobody coming in. It is going to be dark soon and we shall just have to shut the shop. There is nothing we can do about it."

Nadine Tycer, manager of Insitu furniture on Friar Street said their electricity also went off before they witnessed the fire engines arrive.

The Glasshouse restaurant in Sidbury was also affected when the power went off at around 2.40pm.

Manager Gary Thomas said at the time they had around six tables in but luckily the diners had already eaten. However he said he hoped the power would be back on by the evening as they had around 110 people booked.

Owner of cafe Deli Corporation, Ali Mossabeghi, lost power at around 2pm and had to close the shop.

"Saturday is our busiest day. This is all we need at this time of year and it has happened at the worst possible time," he said.

He added he was worried about the food in his fridges and freezers if the power was off for too long.

But drinkers at the Cardinals Hat, on Friar Street managed to keep in the festive mood as landlady Andrea Limlei was able to keep serving the beer by candlelight.

Ms Limlei said: "We have a different cooling system so can keep the beer cold so we are alright for now. But these are things which we cannot control and I can't do anything about it."

Drinker Terry Newall said: "Someone heard a bang but we didn't see any flames. Then the lights went off. We still managed to get a beer so that's okay and it all adds to the atmosphere."

Ian Prust, Station Manager for Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service said the smoke had been seen coming from a manhole cover which was covering electrical cable.

"We got here and lifted the lid and then tried to extinguish it. Central Networks have identified the problem, isolated it and made it safe."

Manager of Cathedral Plaza, John Kendrick said shoppers and staff had to be evacuated for safety, but once the problem was under control they were allowed back in.

A spokesman for Central Networks said it had been caused by a fault in an underground low voltage cable.