Power firm tackles 'squirrel cuts'

Squirrels climb poles in search of nuts

Engineers have designed a device to stop squirrels repeatedly short-circuiting electricity supplies.

Staff at East Midlands Electricity came up with the rubber protector after a series of power cuts caused by the animals.

Squirrels often mistake wooden power poles for trees, scaling them in search of nuts, touching the cables and short-circuiting the power.

Nearly 1,800 homes in the Lady Bay area of Nottingham were without power on Tuesday morning due to a single squirrel.

And part of Nottinghamshire had an electricity black-out last year caused by a pair of mating squirrels in a substation.

Squirrel boot

Also last year, a squirrel trying to jump onto an electricity pole at a golf club, cut an 11,000-volt supply, leaving 3,000 homes without power.

Now East Midlands Electricity is introducing a device known as a squirrel boot.

It is a piece of rubber fitted across the high voltage supply which allows the power to flow freely, and keeps the squirrels safe.

Thousands of the insulators are expected to be fitted in the coming months.