VILLAGE pubs were plunged into darkness and unable to serve hot food after a far-reaching power cut.
Problems were reported in at least five Oxfordshire villages yesterday, though it is not clear if the outage was caused by one fault or several unrelated faults.
Pubs near Oxford, Witney and Wantage all had to scale back their kitchen operations due to the loss of cooking facilities, and residents' homes were also left in the dark.
The White Hart of Wytham was without power for much of yesterday afternoon, and could only serve sandwiches and cold platters from its kitchen.
Power cut! @TheOxfordMail SSE: A fault on the main network in your area. engineers are investigating the cause of the problem and expect to have majority of supplies restored by 22:30. We will update you with our progress shortly after 17:30 if your supply is still affected.
— White Hart of Wytham (@WhiteHartWytham) September 21, 2018
A staff member at the award-winning pub near Oxford said electricity was lost at about 1pm - in the midst of lunch service - and was not restored until 5 or 6pm.
He said the power cut was across the whole village and he understood The Trout Inn in Wolvercote was also affected by an outage.
Across the county in Northmoor, near Witney, another pub was forced to pare back its menu.
The Red Lion posted a message to customers on its Facebook page at about 6pm, stating: "We’ve been suffering from a powercut since 12.30pm this lunchtime. Power not expected to return until 9pm.
"The boys in the kitchen are doing all they can but darkness is now upon us and, obviously, we have no means with which to cook food.
"Please spread the word!"
It seems The White Hart in Fyfield was also affected, with one customer saying he ate his 'lovely' dessert by candlelight.
Just before the power cut, lovely but had to eat by candle light 😎 pic.twitter.com/NMnsg3Y1lU
— Andrew R Hall (@ahall_andrew) September 21, 2018
There was also a power cut yesterday in several villages near Wantage, and SSEN offered residents complementary use of a burger van in apology.
Our customers are loving our burger van which is located at Circourt Road, #Denchworth.
— ssencommunity (@ssencommunity) September 21, 2018
If you're part of the #POWERCUT in #Goosey, #Denchworth, come and get something hot to eat and drink on us! ☕😄
(ET2708) pic.twitter.com/bKw2jKFH7G
The Fox Inn in Denchworth, one of the affected villages, told customers it could not open for lunch.
We are sorry but due to a power cut in the village we wont be able to open at lunchtime today. It should be on around 2pm so we will be open as normal this evening.
— The Fox Inn (@TheFoxInn1) September 21, 2018
With wet and windy conditions forecast throughout the weekend, SSEN has encouraged people to report any weather-related incidents such as damaged power lines.
If you spot any damage to our equipment, make sure you stay well away and report it to us on 105. #SafetyFirst pic.twitter.com/anFZtDbWkS
— ssencommunity (@ssencommunity) September 21, 2018
To check for power cuts or report an issue, see here.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel