£3 million power work ensures Shrewsbury town centre supplied

Western Power Distribution has completed more than four kilometres of improvement work as part of its multi-million pound initiative to improve power supplies to the town.

Andy Barton, WPD's distribution manager for the area, said the work would avoid the potential for power cuts in Shrewsbury town centre.

He said: "It ensures that we can provide a high level of service to these areas in the long term by improving the infrastructure and security of our electricity network."

The work has involved the replacement of around four kilometres of overhead power lines and wooden poles, with a new underground cable between Shrewsbury and Uffington.

Mr Barton said the new cables would safeguard supply reliability to around 16,000 customers in Weir Hill and Shrewsbury town centre.

He said much of the new cable was installed on agricultural land and specialist contractors had been brought in to carry out the work, which has taken eight months to complete.

Mr Barton explained the work had been undertaken because the equipment in the area was approaching the end of its life-span.

He said WPD had decided to take a pro-active approach to repairs, rather than waiting for problems to materialise.

Disruption

As part of the work, the company has introduced a new system which allows it to carry out some repairs from its control room, reducing the need for engineers to travel out to fix issues on site.

Alan Mosley, Shropshire Councillor for Castlefields and Ditherington, in Shrewsbury, welcomed the move to ensure the town's utilities are up to date.

He said: "Just as they are having to do very extensive gas works to replace the mains, obviously these major utilities have to be updated.

"They do not last forever, and to ensure the network is effective is something which is needed and has to be accepted, although it is always important to ensure disruption is kept to a minimum."