electricity vandals’ actions could have had ‘fatal’ results

“Mindless” vandals have been slammed after their reckless actions left thousands of homes without electricity this week.

Equipment attached to overhead power lines in Lochgelly was smashed by pellets fired from airguns or powerful catapults on Thursday afternoon.

Power firm SP Energy Networks has warned that aside from the inconvenience to householders on one of the coldest days of the year, the thoughtless act could have caused house fires or damaged home appliances.

Guy Jefferson, SP Energy Networks’ customer services director, said engineers could not believe their eyes when they discovered what had happened.

“It is difficult to comprehend how anyone could be so irresponsible,” he said.

“They caused unnecessary issues for a lot of people but their actions could have had fatal consequences.

“If you tamper with a power line you run the risk of sparking house fires or damaging appliances like TVs and fridge freezers in nearby properties connected to the grid.

“These foolish individuals obviously don’t care about the damage they have caused.”

Around 2,000 homes in the Cartmore area were reconnected within an hour of engineers arriving on site at 12.30pm.

However, eight properties were without electricity for seven hours.

Mid Scotland and Fife MSP Alex Rowley said he found the incident “really worrying”.

“These people are putting themselves in danger and also the wider community in danger,” he said.

The Labour politician added: “Hopefully, now that it’s been drawn to their attention they’ll think twice before committing acts of mindless vandalism that could result in serious injury or death.”

Vandalism to the electricity network caused the death of a 43-year-old man in Lanarkshire in 2013.

The same year, thefts from substations caused two serious house fires in Greenock and resulted in damage to appliances in 50 homes in Renfrewshire.