A CONCERNED Humshaugh resident has spoken out after an electricity pole fell across a country lane in the village.

The pole, which fell on Burn Lane, was held up by Maurice Gilmour’s car.

It was propped up with a ladder by a neighbour, who is a builder, to prevent it falling further before emergency services attended the scene.

But Maurice was concerned that the outcome of the incident could have been much worse.

Maurice, 88, said: “It is a matter of concern. The pole just fell down, it could have come down absolutely anytime at all.

“We have a lot of children in the lane and they play up and down the lane on their bikes and scooters, it could have also been adults, it could have actually fallen on them.

“I’m not an alarmist but it indicates a bit of a problem which I’ve not met before.

"You suddenly realise how horrific it could be. This time we got away with it.

"I started looking at the poles round the village and thinking ‘what would happen if that one came down?'

“It may just be a one-off but it would be reassuring if people knew actually how often they’re inspected. I understand there is a machine which actually tests the inside of the wood of the pole itself, it also tests underground.”

Maurice added: "It’s a really unsightly pole we have outside our house, it’s not just got the electricity cables on, it has also got the telephone wires. It’s not just the ugliness, it just seems to me safer if it was all underground.

“In a conservation area like Humshaugh, it’s really sad the fact we have these dirty, big poles and wires going off without any regard for aesthetics.”

A spokeswoman for Northern Powergrid confirmed that on September 15 its teams replaced a pole in Burn Lane, Hexham.

She said:  “Our team attended and coordinated repairs to a pole and overhead line which were on the ground. To safely erect the new pole, 12 customers’ supplies were affected from 9.45pm until 2.10am. We are sorry for this disruption caused.

“We have also been contacted by a local resident who advised that their car is damaged and our team is liaising with them directly.

“We have around 400,000 overhead poles across our network which are checked as part of a routine inspection programme. The most recent inspection of all of our poles took place across 2019 and 2020.

“Our network safely delivers power to more than 8 million customers and, like all other electricity distribution networks, it is mix of overhead and underground equipment depending on the nature of the areas it needs to serve. Traditionally, more rural communities are fed through overhead networks as they are more accessible if you need to locate a fault and carry out repairs if customers’ supplies are ever interrupted.”

Maurice praised the efforts of Northern Powergrid, who changed the pole, but has incurred damage to his car roof and door.