Anger as power cut then faulty generator leaves scores without electricity on Doncaster estate

Children and disabled people were among those impacted by the chaos which impacted the Comelybank Drive estate in Mexborough for much of yesterday.

Utility firm GTC has now apologised to customers and is working to restore full supplies to the area.

One resident, Laura Hudson, said the power went off shortly after midnight on Monday – when residents reported hearing an “explosion” which rocked their homes – before being restored at around 9.30am.

But it later went out again at around 2.30pm, she said, plunging dozens of homes back into darkness.

She said: “The back up generator they brought wasn’t sufficient to power the estate and surged.

“We were left in the dark, quite literally, in a household with four children, all of which have special educational needs, varying from autism, ADHD, mobility needs and incontinence.

“We had no heating and the temperature was absolutely freezing too.”

She added that supplies were restored at around 8pm on Monday night and said the back up generator was scheduled to be in place for an estimated 10 days.

Neighbour Sherry-Marie Richardson said: “There were no offers of any help whatsoever. It is nothing short of disgusting how the residents of estate have been treated.”

It is understood up to 240 homes may have been impacted by the cuts.

A spokesman for GTC said: “We apologise to customers for any inconvenience caused during the electricity outage in Mexborough yesterday, resulting from a fault on Northern Powergrid’s equipment in our shared substation and therefore affecting our network.

"A temporary generator was installed whilst investigations are ongoing and it’s regrettable that this also developed a fault requiring its replacement, we would therefore like to thank everyone affected for their continued support and understanding during this time.

“We’re working with Northern Powergrid to ensure that our customers are kept informed of the situation and will continue to provide updates as necessary.”

A spokesperson for Northern Powergrid said: “Our engineers are working to repair the switchgear fault in our shared substation, and we will continue to work in partnership with GTC to support connection for their customers.”