Sidmouth homes left without power after collision
Pole buckled under force
SCORES of homes were left without power after a lorry collided with an electricity pole and caused ‘chaos’ in a Sidmouth street.
A Sidmouth in Bloom flower bed was also damaged on Tuesday- just a fortnight before South West judges visit the town.
Some residents then watched on in shock as the large delivery vehicle allegedly left the scene.
Eighteen homes in Winslade Road were left without power for a total of four hours after the pole nearly buckled as a result of the impact with a large lorry at around 12.25pm.
Around a dozen Western Power technicians raced to the scene. They restored power to homes by 2.40pm ,but then had to disconnect them later, from 7pm to 9.30pm, when replacing the pole. Workers knocked on doors to inform residents.
Winslade Road resident Mike Edgecumbe, 67, a retired bus and coach operator, witnessed the collision.
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“The whole thing caused a lot of disruption to a lot of people,” he told the Herald.
“Driving home, I saw a lorry manoeuvring at the top of the road. It was a big one- around 7.5 tonnes.
“When I got out of the car there was a great big bang and a sudden blue flash. I though it was lightening, but then saw the power pole was pretty much L-shaped.
“The lorry was gone before I had the chance to get any details.
“A dozen Western Power men and a couple of cherry pickers seemed to descend suddenly. It was pretty chaotic.
“There were crowds there working- and they had to do it fast.
“I have to say the men from Western Power were absolutely brilliant and let us know what was happenning.”
Joy Seward president of Sidmouth in Bloom, was ‘very disappointed’ to hear a flower bed in Winslade Road was damaged on Tuesday.
She said: “We’ve had vandalism at the church and now this. The judges are coming on July 12, and trying to get all these things looking good in our 40th year is very difficult.”
l Police said they had no record of the incident as the Herald went to press yesterday.
