Westhoughton generators will remain on standby at site

The generator first appeared on Church Street on Friday 3 July, with the aim of ‘keeping supply online due to a fault in the substation,’ as they stated in correspondence.

Westhoughton has experienced frequent power cuts in recent months, with power outages on Church Street and issues with streetlights.

The repair work has now been completed, but the generators will remain in place ‘for the next few days’ in case of further issues.

Electricity North West said: “Thank you so much for all your patience and understanding while we’ve been carrying out repairs.

“We know it hasn’t been easy, especially with the generator trips, including one that had to be replaced and another switched off due to third party interference.

“Our teams were already in the area in case anything like this happened, and they were able to respond quickly, getting power back on within 30 minutes each time.

Cllr David Wilkinson previously described Westhoughton’s power supply as ‘poor’ (Image: Newsquest)

“Because this has been a large scale repair, we want to make sure everything is fully stable and reliable before we step back.

“For that reason, we’ll be keeping the generators and a team on standby for the next couple of days.”

The issue was caused be major cable faults which occurred on a 132kv oil-filled cable and 33kv cable which feed Westhoughton, Middlebrook, Daisy Hill and Atherton.

The temporary generators were placed next to substations while the repairs were undertaken, which is why one generator was placed on Church Street.

Electricity North West teams have been on standby near the generators to allow them to fix problems as they arise.

There were issues with the temporary generators – including one of third-party interference – but they were ‘able to get the generators back on within 30 minutes each time’.

The Church Street area has been the site of ‘a number of blowouts,’ according to Westhoughton Town Councillor David Wilkinson.

There was a large power outage on the weekend beginning May 10, and another one only a few weeks prior.

These affected homes on Church Street and Grundy Street – North of the Market Street substation.

Cllr David Chadwick put out a notice to residents, urging them to report any power disturbances to Electricity North West.

Cllr Chadwick said: “If you’ve recently experienced a power cut, please make sure you report it to Electricity North West by calling 105.

“It’s important that every outage is logged, as this helps build evidence of the ongoing issues.”

Electricity North West have been contacted for comment.