THE current spate of power cuts that have affected thousands of homes in Upton over the past few weeks are related to ongoing work at a Hamworthy substation, Southern Electric has confirmed.

A “major refurbishment” of the substation, which serves around 10,000 customers in the Hamworthy, Upton and Lytchett areas, has been taking place all year.

“Unfortunately in the process,” a Southern Electricity spokesman explained “there have been two unforeseen power cuts relating to work being undertaken.”

Customers across Upton have reported at least five power cuts in the past month, but not all these outages have been related. Several thousand homes and businesses have lost power because of the Hamworthy substation refurbishment though.

The energy company spokesman said: “We expect this work to be completed around September this year, and when it is completed the refurbishment will see a stronger and more secure supply for our customers in Upton and the surrounding areas.

“In addition we have seen two unconnected faults on the underground cables in Gwenlyn Road and Tree Hamlets in Upton, both of which were repaired shortly after the power cuts happened.”

After the last blackout, affecting 4,000 homes across Upton, Cllr Ray Griffin – environment spokesman for Lytchett Minster & Upton Town Council – said: “enough is enough.”

The Southern Electric spokesman stressed: “We would like to apologise to our customers in Upton for the recent power cuts they have experienced.

“We are committed to providing the best service to our customers and when there is any interruptions, we will do our best to establish the cause of the fault and try to ensure it does not happen again.”