NEWTON Abbot town centre was plunged into chaos at 9am Tuesday morning after a ROK mechanical digger sliced through an 11,000-volt cable. More 2,500 customers lost power, dozens of shops had to close their doors and offices were affected. Traffic lights died, leaving motorists to their own devices, and telephone lines fell silent. The damaged occurred during groundworks for a development of 14 flats and retail unit at Newfoundland Way. Electricity workers were soon on site to replace the section of damaged cable. A ROK spokesman said: 'The digger clipped a cable which wasn't where it was shown on our drawings, but no one was in any danger. We regret the inconvenience caused, but these things do happen from time to time.' Western Power Distribution was unable to confirm whether they would be sending ROK the repair bill. The spokesman added: 'We will be in consultation with ROK.' Gary Kellow, of Body Focus, Queen Street, said that customers using their exercise chairs and toning tables were left in strange positions when the power died. They had to turn away about a dozen customers booked in for beauty treatments. 'Can we put in a claim for loss of earnings?' he quipped. Deborah Malloney, of Austins, said the power cut occurred before opening time, but staff from the main department store and furniture store had to be relocated in the Globe building, in line with health and safety. The store eventually opened for business at 10.15am. Liz Proctor, of the Devon Primary Care Trust, said that the hospital was hit but power was immediately restored when their own generator kicked in. 'We have back-ups, generators – we have to,' she said. A Western Power Distribution spokeswoman said that they managed to restore power to all 2,611 customers within the hour by switching to alternative supplies.
