Residents left without power days after Storms Eunice and Franklin hit

Many West Berkshire and North Hampshire residents continue to suffer without power after the region felt the full force of three successive storms.

First Storm Dudley hit the region on Wednesday and Thursday last week, before the much stronger Eunice buffeted the region on Friday – followed by Storm Franklin over the weekend.

Despite a few days of relative calm, many residents are still without power after wind from the storms pulled down power lines, while fallen trees also damaged the supply.

Burys Bank Road residents have been without power since Saturday afternoon after energy supplier SSE disconnected their properties from their network and haven’t returned to re-connect them since.

Guy Denison-Smith said that he is only asking for accurate and timely information so that he and his family can plan around the power outage.

He said: “The whole thing is diabolical.

“We understand that they have a huge amount to do in order to reconnect everyone but it really shouldn’t be this difficult in 2022 to communicate effectively and accurately.”

SSE have placed a back-up generator in Bowdown Woods which has been running since Monday, but it is only in use for vulnerable people.

Mr Denison-Smith was concerned about the wellbeing of his 81-year-old neighbour Jane Porter who has not been connected to the generator.

He said: “SSE told me today that this generator is for vulnerable people; but clearly not my neighbour who has explained to SSE that she is 81 and lives alone.

“Supposedly she is on the priority list!”

David Shepherd, who lives in Stockcross, said it wasn’t until late on Wednesday morning that workmen turned up to restore power to his house.

Mr Shepherd said his major gripe was with the management of SSE and the disinformation and lack of communication.

He said: “Their updates are ‘your power will be back on in 12 hours’, and it just keeps shifting forward.

“If they had said it would take five days at least we’d have known and prepared.”

On SSE’s power tracking website, which tracks outages across the region, there are still unplanned outages in Woolton Hill, Baughurst, Thatcham, Hermitage, Stanford Dingley, Upper Basildon and Hungerford.

SSE has been approached for comment.

It said on its power tracking website: “The worst of the weather has passed and it’s now safe for our teams to begin work on repairing and altering our network to get your power back on.

“Our teams will be working night and day to try and get as many power supplies restored as possible, however, depending on the severity of the damage, this may take longer.”

Schools were closed on Friday as learning moved online, with head teachers taking a safety first approach after the Met Office issued a rare red warning for Storm Eunice for the southwest corner of the country, and an amber warning for most of southern England.

Fallen trees caused havoc on the district’s roads as West Berkshire Council revealed it responded to 150 emergency calls – 120 of which were to deal with fallen trees.

A car was crushed along Newtown Road – although no one is believed to have been injured – while the A343 in Highclere, the towpath in West Mills, and roads in Hampstead Norreys, Bucklebury and Basildon were all temporarily blocked.

Rail services were also cancelled as residents were advised to stay at home.

Great Western Rail cancelled all Reading to Newbury services, instead running an hourly Reading to Bedwyn service.