Power cut in Wearne as thieves nick cables
There have been plenty of stories in the past decade about copper telephone cables being stolen. The practise more or less went away when new legislation governing scrap metal dealers came into force in 2013.
The news that more cables had been stolen near Wearne therefore came as a bit of a surprise. The real shock though, excuse the pub, was that the thieves had stolen cables that were linked to an electricity substation. The substation is on the A372 White Hill near Wearne.
Local residents found out soon enough when their power went down. National Grid were alerted to the problem at 4.20 on Monday (23 January). It was reported to the police the following morning.
Residents in Wearne were without power for around 6 hours.
National Grid told The Leveller: “A section of cable was illegally cut down at a rural location at Wearne near Langport over the weekend. Using cutters, the thieves stole around 10 metres of PVC-coated copper cable from a transformer pole. The cable plays an important earthing function and should never be tampered with.”
You would not imagine this would be easy to dispose of, presumably the thieves are hoping to get cash from someone. Is this now part of a pattern? Not according to the National Grid. They added: “This is an isolated but unwelcome act of theft and vandalism and we would encourage anyone who sees suspicious activity near National Grid’s poles, cables or substations to call us on 0800 096 3080 or call the police immediately.”
Avon & Somerset Police echoed those sentiments saying:”If you saw anything suspicious or have any dashcam or other footage showing the incident please call 101 and give the reference 5223018273.”