Milton Abbas residents feel left in dark after power cuts

In the latest outtage, Milton Abbas and the surrounding area was without electricity following Storm Isha earlier this week.

While it wasn't the only Dorset community to be affected by power cuts, customers were in the dark for a long time - and it's becoming a fairly regular occurrence in poor weather. 

Many homes and businesses in the Milton Abbas and Hilton areas were off for 18 hours - but a few were in the dark for almost 24 hours.

Electricity provider Scottish and Southern Electricity Network (SSEN) says that 352 customers were affected by the outage, which started on Sunday night.

For the majority, power was restored at around 3pm the following day - but some were left in the dark until 7pm.

The company provided a food van which was placed outside the Hambro Arms serving residents free hot food and drinks 'compliments of SSEN' until power could be restored.

Sadie Morritt, worked at the community support vehicle. She says more than 250 hot meals were distributed to residents (Image: Cristiano Magaglio)

The area is frequently hit with power outages, sometimes over multiple days, and some residents have asked if more could be done to keep them out of the dark.

Resident Chris Thomas said: "It is a bit of a repeating issue. It seems like any time we have strong winds that's what happens.

"I don't know what anyone can do about it. I think there is clearly a weakness here.

"Last year we had a power cut for two days, I am not saying SSEN weren't working hard but it's a long time. I would hope they would look into inspecting the weakness in the area that is causing this."

Chris Thomas (Image: Cristiano Magaglio)

Resident Thomas Ives said: "We often have power cuts. To be fair it is all trees around here. However, I don't know whether it is a lack of maintenance, I think they should investigate.

"It would be good to get feedback as to why it happened and then we can decide what to do about it."

Many of the homes in the area rely on electricity for heating, and with poor telephone connection it can be difficult for word to get around - such as SSEN's emergency messages.

Mike and Sue Gibbons from the Milton Abbas Post Office walked from door to door to tell people about the food van.

Resident Abbigail Hicks has pets that require a heat source.

She said: "The power cut is annoying because I have a lizard and a chinchilla that need heat."

Landlord and owner of the Hambro Arms, Keith Johnson said: "We were closed completely during the power cut.

"It affected all the houses in the area and surrounding villages. The community has rallied around. It was really helpful that the SSEN provided the community support vehicle."

Hambro Arms Landlord Keith Johnson (Image: Cristiano Magaglio)

One resident said: "We don't get them every storm but it's very inconvenient. Sometimes it's more than 24 hours. It would be nice to think there is some sort of longer-term solution so it doesn't keep happening."

A spokesperson for SSEN said at the time of the power cut: “Engineers are working in challenging conditions to safely restore power supplies to customers in Milton Abbas.

“Damage caused by Storm Isha to the local infrastructure initially affected 352 customers in the area, with engineers restoring all but 21 customers. These remaining customers are expected to be back on supply by 7pm (Monday).

“A welfare facility providing hot food and drinks for these customers has been set up at The Hambro Arms."

The company was also asked about frequent power cuts in the area but had yet to respond when the Echo went to press.