A COUNCILLOR is demanding answers following a spate of electrical explosions in York.

Cllr Andrew Waller has contacted Northern Powergrid following a series of incidents which have seen flames and smoke pouring out from under the streets of York following electrical faults.

On Monday an underground electrical cable exploded under Upper Price Street in York, leaving 2,182 homes without power for almost four hours, and the road closed for repairs.

It was the latest in a string of similar events, which have seen roads and telecommunications boxes badly damaged in recent months. On Saturday, outside Acomb Library, one eyewitness told The Press there was “a sheet of flame coming out of the ground”.

Cllr Waller said he was worried about the frequency of these events, adding: “My concern on Saturday was that it’s the third time in nine months. I wrote to Northern Powergrid asking if they were conducting retests, and they said everything was alright.

“Witnesses said there were six feet of flames coming from it. I have asked for an explanation from Northern Powergrid but also advice on taking this through the Health and Safety Executive.”

Cllr Waller said the repeated faults were “clearly a very hazardous situation”, which needed looking into. He said: “They haven’t detailed the causes after the event and we’re left sorting things out, but I do want to know that they have investigated their infrastructure.”

Sean Caskey, head of Northern Powergrid’s, Yorkshire Moors and Wolds zone, said the recent faults were not connected, and they would be contacting Cllr Waller to reassure him.

He said: “Over the past week we have seen three unrelated faults on different parts of our network. On each occasion we have responded quickly to get our customers’ lights back on as soon as possible and minimise disruption for the communities we serve. We have also coordinated permanent repairs to the areas of our network affected.

“We take the reliability of our network very seriously. We monitor and review our networks on an ongoing basis and reinforcement is programmed into our capital programmes as part of our ongoing work to improve the region’s power network.”

“In relation to Acomb, we’re aware that some customers in this area have been affected by disruption to power previously and we’re currently looking at reinforcement works which will enable us to improve the resilience of the electricity network in the wider area.”