Cat on electricity pole causes St Cyrus to lose power Published duration 14 October 2013

image caption The cat had been stuck up the pole for almost 24 hours

An Aberdeenshire village lost its power supply for two hours while a cat was rescued from an electricity pole.

Two engineers from Scottish Hydro Electric Power Distribution (SHEPD) saved the cat from the top of the 10-metre pole in St Cyrus, after it was stuck there for almost 24 hours.

They established they would need to turn off the power supply and use a cherry picker to rescue the cat.

The company said this also prevented damage being caused to the network.

Engineers Ian Robertson and Brian Barclay arrived after the firm was alerted by Coco the cat's owners Moira and Bob Moir.

'Exceptional circumstances'

Mark Macdonald, from SHEPD, said: "By phoning our emergency service centre, Mr Moir not only alerted us to the plight of his cat but his call also meant that our engineers were able to prevent any damage to our high-voltage network which could, in turn, have resulted in a much longer and wider-reaching interruption to supplies in the area.

"Hopefully the customers of St Cyrus who experience a short power outage will understand the exceptional circumstances that day, and I'd like to thank our customers for their patience as we carried out the rescue mission."

Power supplies in the area were cut off for about two hours during the operation.

"Everyone in the depot is delighted that Coco has made a full recovery, although I heard she was a bit crabby after being stuck up the pole for almost a day," Mr Macdonald said.