Power outages in Oxford village leave school closed for days

Residents say the village is often left without electricity because of faults at the Town Furlong substation

A community says it is "literally being kept in the dark" after multiple power cuts hit their village.

Residents say Appleton in Oxfordshire is often left without electricity because of faults at the Town Furlong substation.

The parish has been running on a diesel generator for a month and the village school closed for several days.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) said they "appreciate the inconvenience" caused.

On 19 June Appleton Primary School announced the school would be closed "as we have no electricity".

Parent Gabs Brown has called for "frequent, accurate updates" from the company.

"One or two power cuts is bearable, but it felt like the cuts were always going on at 17:00 when I was making dinner", she added.

SSEN said: "We'd like to apologise to our customers in Appleton for the recent interruptions to their power supplies."

The parish has been running on a diesel generator for a month

The distributor added it sent a team to Badswell Lane substation to replace equipment and "we do not envisage this causing any further issues".

But local residents say the latest problem is one of many over the past few years.

The area most recently experienced a power cut on 20 May which resulted in a power outage in 160 nearby properties, as well as incidents on 28 May and 18 and 19 June.

Many, many power cuts

Wendy Robinson, who lives in Badswell Lane, said there have been "many, many power cuts".

"They last 5 to 7 hours. We have camping stoves and people have gas barbeques so we can boil water and so people can cook something", Ms Robinson added.

Appleton resident, Fiona, is a carer for her mum.

She said the cuts have made her job increasingly difficult: "When these happen, they affect us quite badly because my mum has issues with mobility and has to get up in the night."

Appleton Community Shop, a not-for-profit store run by volunteers, said they've lost hundreds of pounds worth of frozen goods.

"This is the fifth time its happened in six weeks", said Jane Cranston, chairman of the shop board.

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