BRAVE contractors with a head for heights have scaled an electricity pylon in St John's to carry out improvement work.

They are atop the tower in a Comer Road garden as part of Western Power Distibution's £2.3million upgrade investment.

The crew have to remove the ageing pylon which is between 26 metres and 32 metres in height and weighs between 10 and 15 tonne.

Work to dismantle the pylons is also taking place at Windsor Avenue, Greenacres Road and Harrington Road in Worcester.

People living in homes with the pylons in their gardens have to leave during the day for safety reasons as the heavy pylons will be lifted over their houses or gardens.

Fortunately, electricity does not have to be cut off to the 36,000 homes the pylons serve as power is re-routed.

Chris Mundy, WPD project engineer, said: “We apologise for any inconvenience caused by this essential work to future proof the power network for the people of Worcester.

Worcester News:

"These pylons have been in place for about 80 years and are coming to the end of their useful life.

“We have contacted all the residents affected and have liaised closely with local authorities to keep disruption to a minimum, wherever possible.

“The replacement of the pylons, and the wider reinforcement of the network between Worcester and Malvern, will mean a safer, more reliable and more efficient electricity supply for about 36,000 existing customers. It will also ensure the network is ready to meet future demand from customers wanting to connect green technologies, like electric vehicle chargers and heat pumps, as we all prepare for a net zero future.”

Each tower takes two days to complete and after putting up a pulley system they take the heavy wires off a 'restring' them.

Because of the sheer size of the wires, they have to be taken down on site using cranes and then are replaced and rebolted.

They expect to complete the job at all five of the sites by next week.