Power alert

Power cuts were likely in Paisley and district, as the miners’strike moved towards the end of its fifth week.

The South of Scotland Electricity Board gave a warning that the cuts would cause “inconvenience and hardship to many”.

But they promised that “supplies vital to the life of the community” would get priority, we told in February 1972.

If the power cuts were made, the Paisley district was slated to be among the first in Scotland to be affected.

When Scotland was last hit by major power cuts – during the power station dispute in December 1970 – Paisley was the first area of Scotland to be affected.

And the local situation was complicated in February 1972, when some 100 maintenance workers at Braehead Power Station, in Renfrew, staged a half-day unofficial strike in protest against the pay deal that was accepted by their union.

When the men returned to work, a spokesman for the electricity board said that they were working to rule.

This, so far, it had had no effect on supplies.

In common with the rest of Scotland, Paisley had a voltage reduction of three per cent.

This economising, allied to the comparatively mild weather after a snowy spell, had helped offset the threat of power cuts.

The Government was expected to adopt special emergency powers, with advertising and display lighting possibly disappearing from Paisley shops.