Village suffers 15 power cuts in the space of two months

Around 40 homes in the village of Charlton-on-Otmoor have been affected by at one point or another as power at the substation which covers the village goes off.

Chris Simmons said: “I may have no electricity on one day and another house does. This has been going on for years but got worse over the last two to three months. Everybody in the village has complained.

"They say they will do something about it then it usually just carries on."

Mr Simmons said Ofgem, the regulator, allows power companies a three-hour window in which to fix faults.

He said: “So on Tuesday night it was fixed after two hours and 45 minutes. If they manage to fix it in that time, then they’re fine. It’s no issue for them – but it is for us.

READ ALSO: Oxfordshire GP goes viral on Twitter after sharing Covid lockdown story

“We were supposed to be having an online parents’ meeting as my two lads are taking their GCSEs and A-levels. We were going to discuss the most important academic year in their lives and we had a power cut.

“I live with a torch on the side. It interferes with our evening meal and we don’t know when we’re going to eat, you don’t know if it’s going to come back on. One day it went off at 4.30pm which at this time of year means it was pitch black."

Mr Simmons wrote to the CEO of Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) and was told special equipment would be installed at the substation.

"They said they would put a voltage reader in – I said, you’ve done that before. It just monitors, it does not fix anything."

He added: "I completely understand you cannot guarantee a continuous supply all the time but there has got to be something wrong somewhere. We’re so frustrated. We feel we are getting fobbed off."

In a statement SSEN said: “We have been aware of an issue on the network that supplies Charlton-on-Otmoor, which is affecting approximately 40 customers. Repairs undertaken in December have not fully resolved the issue, so voltage recorders will be installed tomorrow to provide a full picture of how the local network is running.

READ ALSO: Boris Johnson Plan B announcement: full list of Covid rules change

"This will help identify and locate any issues and ensure that any work carried out will resolve the problem. Letters will be delivered later this week to ensure all customers are updated.

“SSEN would like to thank customers for their patience while we manage these repairs and to assure them that we are working as safely and swiftly as possible to ensure normal supply is resumed.”

SSEN added that "compensation is payable in strictly defined circumstances, which have not occurred in Charlton-on-Otmoor".

Mr Simmons confirmed he had received a letter from the company.