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Lunchtime power cut costs Aberdeen city centre food businesses

Union Street in September. Image: Kath Flannery / DC Thomson.
Union Street in September. Image: Kath Flannery / DC Thomson.

A power cut plunged some businesses in Aberdeen city centre into darkness over lunchtime – and impacted traffic lights too.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Network (SSEN) were notified of the outage at 11.45am today.

An engineer was sent to the scene and restored power by 2pm.

SSEN told The P&J 190 customers were affected due to the outage which was caused by flood damage.

Businesses lose hundreds of pounds

Several local businesses reported the outage costing them money, after it hit just at lunchtime.

Local business Padthai Hotpot & Grill, which has only been open a year, had its power off for around two hours during the lunchtime rush.

Richard Speak, one of the owners, estimated the outage cost the business at least a few hundred pounds.

“None of the open signs were working and the lights were off so we were quiet. We had to cancel all the lunchtime bookings too”, he said.

Padthai Hotpot & Grill on Union Street in July. Image: Google Maps.

“I could try and get the money from the energy company, but these things happen and I am an old-fashioned business guy and don’t like the awful litigation society we have nowadays.

“These things happen and I am sure the energy company tried to get it working as soon as they could.”

Other businesses on Union Street were also affected by the outage. KFC on Union Street had no power for two hours.

The map of the current power outage in Aberdeen. Image. SSE.

Cafe Nero had to close for the duration and staff waited within the store for power to be returned.

Member of staff Georgie McRobb said they had to keep freezers and fridges filled with food sealed to prevent them from getting too warm.

Due to the power returning in time she said the food will be safe to use.

The outage caused the traffic lights at the junction of Union Street and Bridge Street and Union Terrace to stop working.

The lights were also out at the junction of Union Street and Crown Street.

What does the power company say?

A spokesman for SSEN said: “Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) was alerted to a power cut in Aberdeen’s Union Terrace and surrounding streets just before noon today, affecting 190 customers in the immediate area.

“Engineers attended to the local substation serving the area, where they identified damage caused by flood water, and carried out network switching and repairs to restore these customers as quickly and safely as possible.

“All supplies were restored by 2pm and SSEN would like to apologise to its customers for any inconvenience this outage may have caused.”

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