Sheffield homes hit by power cut, with reports of flickering lights, big bang and broken boilers

Several people reported experiencing flickering lights, followed by a buzzing noise and then a loud bang as the supply went in High Green last night.

Nothern Powergrid said around 85 homes were affected by the power cut, which happened at around 10.45pm and was caused by a fault with an underground cable.

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Several people have described how their boilers and other items included microwaves and TVs were damaged and would not work even once the power was restored.

Heather Hitchman, who lives on Greenwood Road, said: “It’s been an absolute nightmare. The lights started flickering and making a really loud buzzing noise, and the next minute the plug sockets and everything were exploding. It was really scary. We didn’t know what was going off.

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"The microwave had smoke pouring out of it and the boiler’s stopped working. Lots of other people have said their boilers are broken and some people have said their washing machines are no longer working either.

"I contacted Northern Powergrid, who were willing to send a supervisor out to look at the damaged items and hopefully they’ll reimburse us.”

Another woman, whose boiler also broke, said her hand had been scarred when a plug blew as the power went out.

She told how she had experienced ‘flickering lights, fizzing sockets and a loud popping noise’ too.

A spokeswoman for Northern Powergrid said: "On this occasion the fault seems to have caused some of the homes affected by the power cut to experience higher than usual voltage for a short period of time before the lights went out, and this may have affected some electrical appliances within some customers' homes.

"We carried out emergency repairs during the night, restoring power to all homes by 10.32am this morning.

"We have been in touch with all customers who have reported any problems and our contractors are assisting them with repairs to any damaged appliances.

"We would like to thank our customers for their patience whilst our teams worked to safely get their lights back on as quickly as possible."