Hundreds of homes without power after electricity substation blast

The blast blew the doors off the facility in Castleton Court, Tyldesley, at 6.40am on Thursday June 29.

A fire crew from Atherton station was quickly on the scene and cordoned off the area then waited for Electricity North West engineers to arrive.

Watch manager Steve Green said: “It must have been quite a blast to take the doors out. Fortunately there was no fire but the feeding cable was damaged.

"It had taken the supply out to local houses and we were told it might be three to four hours before it was restored to everyone.”

The crew was at the scene for about 90 minutes, having also given advice to local residents.

A spokesperson for Electricity North West said: “Earlier this morning at 6.40am in Tyldesley, we received reports of a power cut affecting 327 properties due to a fault with an underground electricity cable inside the substation on Castleton Court.

“For safety reasons, the fire service were called to attend and once a short inspection was completed, our onsite engineers immediately started work carrying out a repair and they will aim to restore power as quickly and as safely as possible.”