AROUND 90 homes in the Alcester area were left without power for hours on Christmas Day.
The electricity cut out at more than 750 homes at 4.45pm and, while many got their power back within minutes, others were left without electricity for more than four hours.
Many were unable to cook Christmas dinner, watch festive TV specials or play video games.
National Grid blamed the outage, which affected 752 properties, on ‘a fault on the overhead network’ and apologised for any inconvenience caused by the power cut.
Among the areas plunged into darkness were Walcote, Haselor, Arrow, Cookhill, Wixford, Great Alne and Oversley Green.
Most homes got their power back quickly, but nearly 90 had to wait hours. Photo: iStock
Roads in Alcester affected included Captains Road, Church Street, Seggs Lane, Wixford Road, Kinwarton Road, Throckmorten Road, Haselor Close, Freshwater Crescent, Riverside, Alcocks Road and Weatheroak Road.
Pat and Derek Layton, who live in Walcote went out for Christmas lunch but had a bit of a shock when they returned home later that afternoon.
Pat told the Herald: “It was pitch black everywhere and certainly spoiled Christmas Day for a lot of people.
“Derek and I had been out so we were lucky but there are people who eat later and they couldn’t cook their Christmas dinners.
“We were going to watch the Gavin and Stacy special, but it was getting cold, so I went to bed at seven o’clock.
“It couldn’t have been a worse day for it to happen.”
Another power cut, this time on Friday 20th December, also caused problems as many turned up in the evening for a carol service at St Mary and All Saints church in Haselor, only to find the place in total darkness.
The event was cancelled by Alcester Minster Churches leaders, who said it was ‘a total power outage’ and rescheduled for Monday 23rd December.
Pat added: “The carol service was brilliant – I do the mulled wine and mince pies and everyone always goes away, very jolly but because the mulled wine had been mulling for three days, it had even more flavour.”
The week before Christmas The Piston Club at The Stage on Alester Road reported a power cut on 18th December, with one customer saying she’d turned up for her booking but had been forced to go to another pub as there was no electricity.
Bar staff at The Golden Cross in Arden’s Grafton said they’d “had a few issues” with blackouts in the run-up to the big day, while a bar worker at The Blue Boar in Temple Grafton said a group of four customers had come in explaining they’d been hit by a power outage and had no electricity at home.
A spokesperson for National Grid told the Herald: “We did have a power cut incident affecting one property at 3.30pm on 25th December with power restored by 4.20pm.
“A further power incident caused by a fault on the high voltage network was recorded at 4.45pm on 25th December affected 752 properties, power supplies were restored to 666 customers two minutes later by 4.47pm, with the remaining customers restored by 8.53pm.
“We are sorry for any inconvenience caused and we would like to thank customers for their patience and understanding.”