Investigation under way after 'explosion' causes damage to a Portsmouth road
An investigation is underway after the ‘explosion’ of an outdoor electricity board which has caused damaged to a Portsmouth street and left homes without power.
Eyewitnesses reported hearing loud noise which sounded like an ‘explosion’ just after 9am in Widley Road which has caused visible damage to the pavement and man hole cover. It follows power outages in the area since around 2am this morning.
Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks has confirmed it has engineers on site who are working to restore power to around 160 homes which it hoped would be completed by around 4pm.
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It also confirmed it will carry out a full investigation to establish the cause of the incident.
An SSEN spokesperson said: “Engineers are currently on site at Widley Road and will restore power as soon as is possible.
"A full investigation into what caused the incident will now take place. We would like to thank customers for their patience and apologise for any inconvenience caused.”
Hampshire Police has confirmed it has been called but that the fire service was leading on the incident following a call just after 9.20am following the explosion.
A spokesperson for Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service said: “We were called to what was believed to have been an explosion of an electricity board.
“There was an initial evacuation but everyone is safe.”