East Surrey MP, Peter Ainsworth, has reacted with astonishment to suggestions that a loss of power to approximately 120 Godstone homes wasn’t regarded as “an emergency” by energy company, EDF.

A large section of the village fell victim to the power shortage on Saturday night when temperatures hovered just above freezing; some homes still remain without electricity. 

Mr Ainsworth said:

“I find it alarming that this power cut occurred at a time of year when for some people accessing electricity can mean life or death, and that according to a local resident this situation was not regarded as an emergency by EDF Energy.  If this is not an emergency then I don’t know what is.

“I sincerely hope that power is restored as quickly as possible to all homes and that no-one has been detrimentally affected during these particularly severe conditions.”

Following representations made on Monday by Mr Ainsworth, EDF Energy offered the following statement:

“EDF Energy Networks engineers are working to restore power supplies to nine customers in the Hillbrow Court area of Godstone after a fault on an underground electricity cable.  We appreciate how difficult it can be to be without power, especially during cold weather, and apologise for the inconvenience caused by this incident.

“At about 6pm on Friday, approximately 120 customers experienced an interruption to their power supplies. Engineers worked through the weekend to find the fault, which proved difficult to pinpoint. About 60 customers had supplies again at 5.18pm yesterday (January 17), with further extensive work and repairs being undertaken today. At 2.30pm today (January 18), power was restored to all bar nine customers. Our engineers are continuing to work as quickly and as safely as possible to ensure those nine customers have power again soon.”

EDF also offered the following advice:

• Keep a torch handy and try not to use candles unless they are fixed in some way
• Keep warm by staying in one room, or even in bed
• Please keep an eye on any elderly or ill people who live nearby. If you have a gas cooker, try to make sure they have hot food or drink, even if it’s just a flask of hot water
• Switch off all electrical equipment, except one light which will let you know when the power comes back on
• If you have a battery-operated radio, please listen to your local radio station for the latest information