A WOMAN was left baffled when an electricity company spent more than a month fixing one Wrexham street light.

Angela Brand said she was astounded by how complicated a simple repair had become by the time it was finally resolved.

Her neighbour had reported the faulty light to Wrexham Council about a month ago and, according to a spokesman for the local authority, it was referred to Scottish Power staff for a technical investigation.

Two weeks later a hole was dug around the light, which Angela assumed was in preparation for a repair.

Letters were also posted to residents to warn that work would start on Tuesday, February 15.

But after two weeks coping with an inconvenient hole in the pavement, and the day before the repair was scheduled, Scottish Power contractors arrived and started filling in the hole.

Angela, of Thirlmere Court, Bradley, said: “I ran out to tell them repairs were due to start the next day and questioned if they were really supposed to be filling it in.
“I was just told ‘It’s okay, we’re still getting paid for it’.”

The next day new workers arrived and had to dig a new hole so repairs could begin.

Angela, a theatre assistant at Gobowen Orthopaedic Hospital, added: “It was an absolute waste of time and money. I think it’s awful when you hear news every day about all the savings companies are having to make. People are facing losing their jobs and then money is being wasted on silly mistakes like this.

“It shows complete lack of common sense.”

A spokesman for Scottish Power said: “We received a report that there was a fault with the mains cable but when staff first visited the site they could not find a fault so a return visit was planned.

“In the meantime the hole had to be filled as a safety measure.”

But Angela questioned why it was strictly necessary when the hole had already been open for two weeks.

 “What difference would one more day have made?

“It just seems crazy that after two weeks of a hole, with barriers that fell down every time the wind blew, they were suddenly all concerned about health and safety.”