Newport residents left in the dark

Scottish Power slammed after prolonged spell of darkness in town

Residents in Newport-on-Tay are urging power company bosses to explain why they were left in the dark for almost two months.

The street lights in Union Street, Robert Street, King Street and Hillside Place have finally been fixed after being out of action since September 3.

Scottish Power Energy Networks confirmed yesterday that the lights are now fully operational after a mains cable repair was completed.

It comes after councillors highlighted the issue to The Courier, however questions are being asked about how the situation went on for so long.

Liberal Democrat councillor Jonny Tepp said Fife Council’s agreement with Scottish Power required work to be carried out within 20 working days for group outages and 25 working days for individual cases.

Penalties are normally imposed if repairs take longer, but Mr Tepp said that would be no comfort to people who had been affected by the failure.

“It seems clear to me that the fines that are imposed for missing their target are not sufficient deterrent to encourage a swift response.

“Nor do these benefit residents in any way as they still have to struggle in the dark and feel fearful that vandalism and crime may increase as a result.”

Fellow Lib Dem councillor Tim Brett added: “The 20-day target itself is already too long for no action to be taken on street lights.

“For it to be allowed to extend for a period for two months is beyond belief.

“We expect there to be a sense of urgency and sense it is missing.”

The company said the circumstances in the Newport case meant the service level agreement – and any financial penalties arising as a result of failing to meet targets – would not apply in this instance.

“SPEN received further calls on October 24 that lights had gone off – further investigations showed it was a fault in the mains cable and repairs were carried out on October 30.”

For it to be allowed to extend for a period for two months is beyond belief

Picture: Steven Brown. Councillors Jonny Tepp and Tim Brett.