At least 40,000 homes in Oxfordshire affected after cooling towers brought down

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

The demolition of a disused power station’s cooling towers caused a power outage that affected 40,000 homes in Oxfordshire on Sunday, an energy company has confirmed.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) had said that initial information suggested the demolition was not linked to the outage, but later admitted it was the cause.

Explosive charges were used to bring down the 375ft (114.3m) towers of Didcot A at 7am on Sunday.

Onlookers shared footage of the blast on Twitter, which appeared to show nearby electricity pylons set ablaze moments after the three concrete towers collapsed.

Thom Airs (@thomairs) Forget the cooling towers coming down - a pylon just exploded! Caught the tail end of it. #didcotpowerstation pic.twitter.com/pso2NN1B3E

SSEN confirmed that at least 40,000 of its customers in South Moreton, North Moreton, Didcot and the surrounding areas had been left without power between 7am and 8.20am, though power was later restored.

The energy firm said: “During the demolition, a large section of debris protection material became detached from one of the cooling towers and made contact with our 33kV overhead line, which was outside of the advised perimeter. This resulted in significant damage to the overhead line and subsequent network faults.

“The company is working with the station owner, RWE, to investigate the network fault, as well as conducting an internal review. It asks that those affected contact the company through the power cut helpline 105.

“SSEN takes its responsibility to public safety seriously. We are aware of reports of minor injuries and damage caused by the incident at Sutton Courtenay and are working with the police and other agencies to identify those impacted.”

RWE said: “The three cooling towers at Didcot A power station are down. We have received the SSE statement on the power cut and we will look at this very carefully and further investigate what has exactly happened.”

The demolition work, carried out by the contractor Brown and Mason, comes three-and-a-half years after four workers were killed in a major incident. Christopher Huxtable, 33, Kenneth Cresswell, 57, John Shaw, 61, and Michael Collings, 53, died after the partial collapse of the boiler house at the Didcot A plant in February 2016.

Thames Valley police and the Health and Safety Executive launched a joint investigation to consider corporate manslaughter, gross negligence manslaughter and health and safety offences.

It took months to retrieve the bodies from the rubble of the 10-storey concrete and steel building – which, due for demolition, collapsed unexpectedly – prompting criticism from the men’s families.

The disused plant’s chimneys will be demolished in the autumn, according to RWE, the German utilities company that owns it.

Didcot A ceased operation in 2013 after running for 43 years. Three of its towers were demolished in 2014.