A vandal smashed into an electricity substation with an axe and caused a power-cut to 1,200 homes. Bosses at Electricity North West say the culprit risked their life and caused thousands of pounds of damage during the break-in in Rochdale.
They smashed locks, forced off panels to high-voltage electrical equipment and removed several fuses.
The break-in at the 6,600 volt sub-station on Greenfield Lane on May 8 caused a 'flashover' which generates intense heat and bright ultra-violet light that can cause serious injury.
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Chris Armstrong, Electricity North West's area operations manager for Greater Manchester, described the incident as 'incredibly serious'. He said "Substations contain powerful equipment, and the culprit is lucky to be alive.
"We have yellow 'danger of death' signs on our equipment for a reason and it's vital that people take notice and stay away. Thousands of pounds worth of damage has been caused and it was all for nothing.
"This is an incredibly frustrating situation, safety is a number one priority in our line of work and I can't stress enough, members of the public should not enter substations. The scrap value would have been so small anyway, it's seriously not worth risking your life for.
“Much of our equipment has special markings too so it's not exactly easy to sell on and whenever we have a break in we involve the police immediately and notify local scrap yards."
Electricity North West have reported the incident to police. Anyone with information is asked to call GMP on 101 quoting log number 1977 of May 8.
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