POWER company Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) is encouraging its customers to take extra care around power cables when planning any improvements in their homes or gardens over the bank holiday.

In the past year, SSEN, the company responsible for the electricity network across central southern England, was called out to more than 1,300 incidents where its overhead and underground cables had been damaged after being struck by gardeners, DIY enthusiasts and builders; all unaware that they were working dangerously close to live power supplies.

SSEN’s Head of Safety, Ian Crawley said: “Thankfully not all of these incidents resulted in an injury to the person involved, but as power cables can carry anything from 230 volts to several thousand volts, striking one of them could result in very serious injury or even a fatality.

“We understand that our customers are keen to make the most of the bank holiday. We just want them to just add one more step to their plans and properly check for cables that could be either overhead or underground in the area they’re planning to work in.

“We also want to make sure that companies using larger digging machinery are mindful of the need to carry out a full risk assessment and check for any underground cables before they start their work.”

Guidance on avoiding danger from power cables can be found on the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) website.