Squirrel sparks Devon power cut

A squirrel drove thousands of people in Devon nuts on Sunday after cutting off the electricity to their homes.

It's thought the squirrel climbed a cable-carrying post instead of a tree, and got what a power spokeswoman described as "a nasty shock".

Power was cut off to 10,380 homes in the Marsh Barton and St Thomas areas of Exeter for about an hour.

The squirrel didn't survive its shocking surprise and was found dead at the scene by engineers.

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The spokeswoman from Western Power explained that the power went out after the squirrel climbed to the top of the post and touched two conductors at the same time.

That would have sent lots of electricity through the squirrel, killing it and cutting the power to the homes.