Fires at houses after power surge

At one point, 10 appliances were attending separate incidents

A power surge after a cable fault led to a number of house fires in a North Lanarkshire town.

About 400 houses were affected by the surge which caused some electricity meters and fuses to blow in the Summerlee area of Coatbridge.

Firefighters said they were "inundated" with calls and attended a number of small fires on Saturday night.

In one block of flats a woman and child suffered smoke inhalation when their electricity meter blew up.

They were taken to Monklands Hospital as a precaution.

Scottish Power said it was making every effort to restore affected customers as soon as possible.

An extremely rare underground cable fault caused the damage Scottish Power spokesman

Workers are also conducting door-to-door inquiries to discuss potential compensation claims with residents.

A Scottish Power spokesman said: "An extremely rare underground cable fault caused the damage.

"It led to an over-voltage of some properties in the area.

"When we became aware of this we switched off the supply to around 700 homes, of which 400 customers are still off.

"An investigation has started into the cause of the incident.

"We apologise to all our customers for the inconvenience and distress this has caused."

Meanwhile, more than 40 firefighters last night tackled a blaze at an unoccupied care home.

The "substantial" blaze at 80 Dalness Street, Glasgow, broke out at about 2040 BST and has now been brought under control.

Strathclyde Fire and Rescue said there were no reports of any casualties.