Power restored to 500 city homes

Power has been restored to about 500 houses in Oxford that had their electricity supply cut when a contractor hit an underground cable.

Properties in the Jericho and Rutherway areas of the city were without electricity for more than 12 hours in freezing temperatures.

Southern Electric said the amount of damage and its location near a sub station meant it was difficult to fix.

But a back-up generator was brought in and supplies were back up by 2100 GMT.

We've got one gas fire so we could keep warm and we all huddled around that Michael, local resident

One local resident Michael said everyone helped each other out to keep warm.

"I feel very sorry for some of my much older neighbours.

"The gas central heating went off when the electricity went off.

"Fortunately we've got one gas fire so we could keep warm and we all huddled around that.

"We managed to boil water on a gas stove and make some hot tea and put it in flasks for them."

Morven Smith from Southern Electric said: "The extent of the damage has proved quite a job for engineers.

"The location of the damage - close to a substation - meant that it was difficult to re-route supplies to remedy the problem.

"We do have this quite a lot where contractors damage cables during their work. I would ask that before carrying out work they contact the company and ask for diagrams as to where the cables are."