ELECTRICITY company SSE has apologised to Boscombe residents who were left without electricity for two days following a major power outage and says 'lessons need to be learned'.

SSE is investigating the cause behind an equipment failure at a high voltage substation, which led to a power surge in several roads on Friday evening.

The issue meant residents in Walpole Road, Hamilton Road, and St Clements Gardens were forced to evacuate their homes.

Firefighters were called at around 6.30pm after numerous calls from people reporting their appliances had blown and smoke was filling their properties. Several fires were also reported, with ten crews and an aerial appliance called to tackle a roof fire in Hamilton Road.

A spokesperson for SSE said around 470 of its customers lost their supply following the incident. Around 320 had their power back by 11.30pm on Saturday, but around 150 were still without power until 4pm on Sunday.

The company urged its remaining eight affected customers to get in touch by calling 105 so “necessary safety checks" could be taken before the supply was restored.

The Daily Echo has asked the company if work was carried out at the substation the morning of the incident following reports engineers were seen in Walpole Road.

We have also asked if and how those affected will be compensated by the company.

In a statement the company said: “Due to the unusual and rare nature of the fault experienced, Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) had to individually disconnect each of the remaining properties at the meter point before it could re-energise the power supply to those customers affected. "Once this work had taken place, SSEN then had to check the integrity of the internal electrical installation at each property to ensure its safety. It was only once this work was completed could SSEN finally restore supplies safely for its customers.

"SSEN can now confirm the fault was caused by a piece of equipment at the local substation. Investigations are continuing to fully understand what caused the piece of equipment to fail and to ensure lessons are learned so there is no repeat.”

Jo Niven, SSEN’s head of region, apologised to everyone affected.

"I would also like to place on the record our thanks to the local community for the ongoing patience and inspiring community spirit they demonstrated in such difficult circumstances as we worked closely with our partners to carry out the necessary repairs and safety checks required before re-energising supplies to each individually property.

“Whilst we have identified the cause of the fault, our investigations do not end here and we will make sure the necessary lessons are learned to ensure nothing like this happens again," she said.

Members of the community rallied around those who were unable to return home on Friday night, and Bournemouth council provided overnight accommodation for five families.

Dave Edwards, a volunteer for British Red Cross, said a team supported those affected at a rest centre at Boscombe Baptist Church.

“We made sure everyone was safe and well. I’ve been to quite a few incidents, but nothing on this scale,” he said.

A house in Borthwick Road opened its doors to the community and offered hot drinks and bacon sandwiches to people without power on Saturday.

Ward councillor Chris Wakefield said welfare visits had been conducted at properties affected by the incident.

“We are getting some very, very positive responses about the way the council, police, the fire service and SSEN have come together to deal with this. Most importantly of all, the community itself has come together so everyone is supported,” he said.

“This was a very unexpected thing to happen, but it’s wonderful to see people taking care of each other here.”

Peter Wallace, a resident of Jasmine Court, which suffered a roof fire following the power surge, said: “We have all had to leave. The two top floor apartments are gutted. There’s a family in this building with two kids, and they will have nowhere to go. It’s unbelievable. It’s an awful situation.”