Inverness properties 'may be without power into early evening'

Some Inverness properties have been warned they may not have electricity until this evening.

It follows a fire at a substation in Waterloo Place earlier this morning.

Some 2800 properties were originally impacted but engineers have restored power to most of those buildings.

SSEN aims to have it all restored by 6pm today.

The unexpected incident has hit some businesses with newspaper distribution affected and popular café XOKO remaining closed today. Other disrupted city centre businesses include some in Eastgate Shopping Centre and Marks and Spencer in Eastgate.

Inverness Justice Centre, which houses Inverness Sheriff Court, has also been impacted.

A spokesperson for SSEN Distribution said: "A network fault occurred at Inverness central substation at 3.30am this morning, which affected power supplies to 2800 properties in Inverness city centre.

"We have restored power to over 2600 properties through rerouting of our network, and, as of 8am, 150 customers remain affected, including areas around Castle Street, Bridge Street and parts of Millburn Road.

"Work will continue to restore power in stages throughout the course of today but due to the requirement for underground works some customers in close proximity to the fault area may be without power into late afternoon or early evening. Proactive communication is being issued.

"We apologise for the inconvenience caused as we work to restore power and would encourage any customer with concerns to contact us on the power cut helpline: 105."

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