Thames Water apologises for black-out caused by contractors' digger

Contractors working for Thames Water deprived 800 Gloucestershire homes of power and set fire to a nearby field after they smashed through overhead power lines with an excavator.

The contractors were cleaning up a pumping station after work on a £2.5m flood defence scheme designed to protect 90 properties in Fairford from the risk of flooding.

A spokesman for Thames Water said: “During the clean-up, one of the diggers brought down a power cable near the pumping station, which caused a small fire in a field. The fire was extinguished by one of our contractors before the fire brigade arrived. The fire was confined to the field only and did no damage to any properties.”

Thames Water has apologised to residents in Fairford and Welford who suffered power cuts after the incident and indicated that it was carrying out a full health and safety investigation.