Villagers furious as ‘jobsworth’ cuts through power cable to their self-funded Christmas lights over ‘safety concerns’
VILLAGERS have been left fuming after a "jobsworth" electric company disconnected the power cable to their self-funded Christmas lights over "safety concerns".
Wyke Regis locals have previously banded together to light up their Christmas tree in a festive tradition lasting more than 20 years.
After years of haggling with the council, villagers eventually came to an informal agreement to bring in a trained electrician to tap into the power supply of a nearby lamp post to light up the Christmas tree.
But they were shocked when the power cable had been disconnected and cut in a way that meant they wouldn't be able to reconnect the display.
And SSE Contracting Limited, who are managed by Enerveo, have confirmed they cut the cables for "safety reasons".
Local Councillor Kate Weller told Dorset Live: "We've been putting up a very big and impressive Christmas tree for over 20 years and we have tried to make the putting up of the lights an official thing but we have been trying to regularise it and they (the electricity board locally) have never been helpful.
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"Normally a professional person wires the lights to the adjacent lamppost but this year they appear to have come along and disconnected these lights.
"We understand they can do this, as we're connected to them and we didn't have permission, however the way they have cut the wires off is to a point that we can not reconnect them if we wanted to."
Local Gary Hepburn said members of the community as well as the donator of the tree were "really upset and angry".
He said: "They are telling me it is awful this has happened when we are in the middle of the pandemic with local activities cancelled and high rates of Covid.
"Other areas of the town have their trees provided by the local authority and lit up and Wyke people have always had to fund and provide their own tree, which makes it worse.
"I will be contacting the local authority and councillors in the morning to see if they can help in any way to get the tree lights back on by Christmas Eve."
The Christmas display - which involves having a large tree lit up in the town centre - has been a tradition in Wyke for more than 20 years and is funded by locals.
A passerby, who wished not to be named, said: "It's an awful shame this had happened. I thought a bulb had gone on one of the lights or something, but I just hope it could be fixed soon. It's Christmas after all."
SSE Contracting Limited, who are managed by Enerveo, have confirmed they cut the cables for "safety reasons".
In a statement, they said: "As part of Enerveo’s routine planned maintenance programme carried out under contract for Dorset Council, a site inspection took place in the Wyke Regis area.
"During the inspection, a Christmas tree decorated with lights was seen by one of our service partners who investigated to ensure the connection was safe.
"The inspection team found that there were a number of safety concerns around the connection. As such, in the interest of public safety, the tree had to be disconnected from the lamp column immediately.”
