UPDATE to news item below: SSE engineers were able to carry out repairs without any significant disruption to the traffic.
Overnight high winds and torrential rain have dislodged a power line causing it to sag where it crosses Hambledon Road beside the football ground.
Scottish and Southern Electricity has been informed and a police officer is in attendance to ensure high-sided vehicles do not make contact with the live cable. Cars and vans are able to pass underneath but the road may be closed when SSE attend to make repairs.
With 28 power cuts reported across the SSE region following the stormy weather – although none in Hambledon – it is unlikely that engineers will be on site until lunchtime at the earliest. In the meantime the police officer will remain in attendance to supervise traffic.
The power line crosses the Hambledon Road from Hydon Farm Cottages to the field opposite, just before the entrance to the Badger Park Football Ground. If a diversion is necessary it will involve motorists using Station Lane, Rake Lane and Petworth Road.
I had noticed that the trees were encroaching on the power lines and I was wondering whether SSE were keeping up with their duties to cut back around them. These events are not unpredictable “Acts of God” – there is a direct correlation with the budget for maintenance. We put up with so many years of constant power cuts and there has been a great improvement over the last three or four years as SSE carried out more tree works; but this year the trees are visibly in contact with the lines in many places, even before the windy weather.
The problem on Hambledon Road has now been cleared.