‘Explosion’ At Sub-Station Caused Widespread Power Cut

A fire at an electricity substation in Market Harborough caused a widespread power cut early this morning.

Firefighters were called to Andrew Macdonald Close at 3.55am, after residents reported hearing an explosion and seeing sparks coming from the building.

The blaze involved a transformer unit and was quickly dealt with by the crew from Market Harborough.

The incident led to 1,584 homes and businesses in parts of Market Harborough, Desborough and some surrounding villages without electricity.

A spokesperson for Western Power Distribution told Hfm: “There was a cable fault within the substation site and we are investigating the cause of this.

“The majority of customers had their electricity restored within 39 minutes and all were back on supply within an hour.

“We apolgoise for the inconvenience this caused and have a team on-site at the moment to investigate and make the necessary repairs.”