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24
May
Businesses hit as power cuts strike Harrogate yet again
Businesses in the centre of Harrogate have been affected once again by power cuts this week.
James Street, Princess Street, Prospect Crescent and parts of Cambridge Street have all suffered outages.
Some shops have had to temporarily close while others told the Stray Ferret they have had issues with their tills, shutters, phone lines, lighting and internet.
This is not the first time the Streets have been left without power. In March, James Street was left without power for a week when Northern Powergrid found "a fault on the underground low voltage cable, resulting in a blown fuse".
Princess Street and one side of James Street were affected on Tuesday (May 21) with Halifax, FatFace, White Stuff, Hobbs and others all forced to close.
Northern Powergrid said in response to Tuesday's outage:
Yesterday, (May 23) the opposite side to those shops affected earlier in the week on James Street and Prospect Crescent were affected from the early hours of the morning until 4.30pm.
Emergency dentist left unable to treat patients
Dr Shoreh Ghasmi owner of The Harrogate Clinic
Dr Shoreh Ghasmi, owner of The Harrogate Dentist, was once again badly affected by the loss of power. The clinic, which provides 24-hour emergency care, was without light, access to medical records and dental machinery all day, meaning it was unable to treat patients.
She began a root canal surgery at 6.30am and numbed the patient's mouth. At 7.28am, mid-way through the procedure the power shut off, leaving Dr Ghasmi and her patient panicked in the dark when her tools stopped working.
In March, Dr Ghasmi experienced the same problem when she was left unable to treat an emergency patient with a fractured tooth. After the initial power cuts she was told a generator had been installed and she was highly unlikely to have another power cut.
Yet four months later the clinic was thrown into the same position and Northern Powergrid had acted “nonchalantly” about the issue, she claimed.
Dr Ghasmi said:
James Street
Yvonne Nightingale, general manager of jewellers Ogden of Harrogate, said the power cuts have had “a horrendous knock-on effect” on the business. The power outage meant that the shop was unable to open and the intruder alarm was activated as a result of intermittent power.
Ms Nightingale added that the alarm activated smoke detectors, which someone witnessed and called the emergency services.
The fire services outside Ogden on James Street on Thursday.
Their neighbours Cornish Bakery Harrogate were also badly affected, losing a day of trade and forced to waste pre-prepared food. Hotel Chocolat and Sainsbury’s Local were also affected, with no power to their fridges.
Emel Rasit, manager of Crew Clothing, said:
Manager of Crew Clothing Harrogate, Emel Rasit (left) with colleague Jack.
Northern Powergrid told The Stray Ferret today:
Cornish Bakery Harrogate and Ogden of Harrogate closed due to power cuts
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