The owner of a Chester pub claims a 'complex' power cut in Northgate Street has lost him around £5,000 in takings.
The Coach House pub has been without power since 5am yesterday (Wednesday, January 24) after a 'highly unusual' fault in underground cables affected several properties on the street.
Engineers from ScottishPower have been working through the night to resolve the complex issue but as of Thursday afternoon the pub has only been able to receive power from a generator.
Owner Les Owens told The Chronicle he has been left thousands of pounds out of pocket: "It's supposed to be getting sorted later on today but we have had to turn away many customers.
"Eight rooms had been booked but four or five of those had to find alternative accommodation which we reimbursed them for. Some stayed but we couldn't even feed them – it's been a bit of a nightmare to be honest.
"I'd say we've lost about £5,000 altogether and the customers that have stayed we've given 50% off as there's been a lot of noise from the work which has kept them awake," he added.
But Les wants to give full credit to the ScottishPower engineers who have been working 'tirelessly' to resolve the issue.
"I want to make it clear that this is nobody's fault and those men have been working tirelessly through the night to resolve things. I have got to say that they have been very good," he said.
"ScottishPower have offered us £150 as standard compensation as our electricity has been off for more than 12 hours but our biggest problem has been that nobody could tell us when the power was coming back on – we had customers sitting there asking what was happening but nobody knew what to tell them.
"We are talking to our insurers and aren't sure the full impact of what we've lost or what kind of knock on effect it's had as we haven't done a full inventory yet but I suppose it's just one of those things that can't be helped.
"We should be back to normal by this evening and bookings should be OK but if anyone does have a booking with us we advise them to ring us and check what's what, or check our Facebook and Twitter," added Les.
The neighbouring Share Shop has also been forced to close because of the power cut.
Manager Ann-Marie Chamberlain wrote on the charity's Facebook page: "Sadly we have had no choice but to temporarily close the ShareShop until emergency electrical works are completed outside our shops we feel it is unsafe to open.
"Our Outreach Team will continue to deliver aid and advice in the evenings directly to those living on the streets."
A ScottishPower spokesperson told The Chronicle: "This is a highly unusual fault on two separate underground cables which has affected five properties on Northgate Street, Chester.
"We are trying to get this resolved as soon as possible. Our key priority is to get the electricity back on.
"It is a complex fault and we apologise for any inconvenience which is why it has taken so long for our engineers to deal with. We have had them working out there all day," he explained.
"To get two faults in a short distance is very unusual."
