SP Energy Networks has offered a reward of up to £10,000 for evidence that directly leads to the conviction of dangerous criminals who set fire to an electrical substation at St Benedict’s High School in Linwood in the early hours of Sunday 28th August.
The substation located in the school’s grounds was completely destroyed by fire, causing a major power cut to nearly 300 local homes and businesses. Our Engineers were alerted shortly after midnight, and were quickly on the scene, managing to restore power supplies in just under an hour. Engineers worked through the night and all day on Sunday to assess the scale of the damage and begin the difficult task of constructing a new substation for the school. We have installed a large generator to allow the school to open as normal on Monday, and a brand new substation was fully installed by Wednesday afternoon.
Graham Campbell, SP Energy Networks District Manager, said: “This was an extremely dangerous attack, and the criminals involved have put hundreds of local homes and families at risk. In the worst cases, vandalism at substations can result in house fires in nearby properties or cause damage to electrical appliances.
“Our engineers have worked around the clock to keep the power on for the local area and ensure that the school could remain open. It has been a huge effort from our team of engineers and everyone at the school to minimise the disruption caused by the attack.
“We will work closely with the Police to help catch those responsible, but we would also encourage anyone who has any information on those responsible to come forward. This attack was so dangerous that we are willing to pay a £10,000 reward to anyone who can provide evidence that directly leads to the conviction of those responsible.”
We are asking anyone who can provide evidence on the attack to either contact the Police, or to call our 24 hour emergency line on 0800 092 9290.