WORK is underway to prevent further power cuts in a busy area of York.

Councillor Andrew Waller called on Northern Powergrid to find out what had caused a series of power outages in Acomb, and the explosion of an electrical cabinet in late 2016.

In a letter to Cllr Waller, Northern Powergrid said there had been “an unusually high number of faults, all occurring within a relatively short time period and in close proximity to each other".

They said the power cuts were in the Acomb area of the city, but they said that “the similarities pretty much end there”.

The letter said the incidents were due to cable damage by third-party contractors, an age-related failure and a problem with a link box outside Acomb library, which was the most significant of the faults.

Work has already taken place in Front Street, and from this week has moved into York Road and Cross Street to connect a main cable, which will take place outside peak traffic hours until March 3.

Lastly, workers will provide new connections in Green Lane to the end of Milner Street to prevent future power outages, with work expected to last until early May.

Cllr Andrew Waller said he had met with the crews carrying out the work, and timescales may change depending on weather and other issues, but he was optimistic that although there may be some disruption in the short term, it would be better in the long run.

He said: “I hope that residents will appreciate why this work is being undertaken, and that it is responding to problems that the community has experienced.

“Communications with Northern Powergrid have improved a great deal since last year when there were delays in getting information from them.

"I hope that the work proceeds smoothly, and I have contacted Talk Talk to ask that the Ultra Fibre Optic works on cabling are able to dovetail with this work as residents are facing a large amount of utility work in our community.”