FALLEN TREE IN FILLONGLEY AREA BRINGS DOWN LINES

MORE THAN 2,000 HOMES AFFECTED BY 'DISRUPTIVE' NEAR GALE-FORCE WINDS

NEAR gale-force winds from a combination of Storm Ellen and tropical tempest Kyle are thought to have played a hand in bringing power cuts to Atherstone and district today.

The early morning disruption affected 2,270 homes, according to Western Power Distribution.

The loss of electricity supply was caused by a fallen tree in the Fillongley area bringing down power lines.

The Met Office had already given a yellow weather warning of "disruptive gusts of unseasonably strong to near gale force winds" touching 70mph.

It also pointed out that at this time of year, when the trees are in full leaf they can be "uprooted a lot more easily".

The tree came down at 6.30am, bringing the immediate loss of supply.

Within minutes power was restored to 1,600 homes, and by 7am to a further 560 properties.

But 100 households continued to be without electricity as power workers battled to remove the tree.

A WPD spokeswoman told Nub News: "We aim to get the supplies back to the remaining homes by mid-day but, as always, as safely as possible.

"I would like to stress that we do apologise for the inconvenience caused."

At 11am, a WPD twitter posting announced: "All supplies affected by the earlier fault in the Atherstone CV9 area have now been restored.

"Apologies to all customers affected by the power cut."