Thieves targeting vital safety equipment inside a Central Networks substation in Wolverhampton have caused an explosion and loss of power to customers.

Engineers arrived at the Hordern Road substation to find most of the earthing stolen from the site, a theft that was directly responsible for the explosion and the power cut.

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Phil Wilson, Central Networks' Customer Operations Manager, said: "This is a prime example of how dangerous it is to try and steal copper from the electricity network.

"It continues to amaze me just how far some people are willing to go to steal a few pieces of scrap metal. We keep our substations fenced off and locked up for good reason.

"Whoever did this could have easily been seriously injured or even killed. In addition, these attacks are a serious inconvenience to our customers when their lights go out."

Police are investigating the incident, which left 27 customers without power while engineers carried out emergency repairs.

(CD/GK)