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Theft causes widespread blackout Theft causes widespread blackout
(about 2 hours later)
Thousands of homes, shops and offices have been left without power after thieves stole a copper earthing cable from an electricity sub-station. Thousands of homes, shops and offices were left without power after thieves stole a copper earthing cable from an electricity sub-station.
About 20,400 premises have been affected in the Dudley and Tipton areas of the Black Country following the incident on Thursday morning. About 20,400 premises were affected in the Dudley and Tipton areas of the Black Country.
More than 8,000 had power restored within an hour, Central Networks said. The sub-station in Dudley, where the incident happened on Thursday morning, was shut down for safety reasons.
The sub-station in Dudley where the incident happened was shut down at 1120 GMT for safety reasons. Central Networks said 8,000 had power restored within an hour and the rest were back on by early afternoon.
Cabling replaced Supplies went off at about 1120 GMT, a spokesman said.
"We decided to remove power to 20,400 customers after the break-in," a spokesman said. He said: "We decided to remove power to 20,400 customers after the break-in. We hope customers understand why we had to do that."
"We hope customers understand why we had to do that and engineers are working as quickly as possible to bring the power back."
Engineers have been replacing the cabling and switching customers to other power circuits where possible.Engineers have been replacing the cabling and switching customers to other power circuits where possible.
Central Networks said it hoped power would be restored fully by early-to-mid afternoon.
The Merry Hill shopping centre in the area has been affected by the incident.