Meter reader attacked

A NORTHERN Ireland Electricity meter reader was chased out of Drumbeg on Tuesday morning (February 21) after being threatened.

The company condemned the attack, pointing out that it was not a one off.

Tom Doran, Metering Manager at NIE, said: “Our employee was verbally threatened and told to leave the Drumbeg area.

“Unfortunately, this incident is not a one-off. There have been a number of threats and attacks on NIE staff and vehicles in this area over the last year.

“We now have to risk assess every time we send a meter reader or a fault and emergency engineer into these areas. This causes time delays and under certain circumstances may affect the service that we are able to provide to members of the local community in terms of fixing power cuts or reading meters.”

NIE, the electricity network company, reads meters for all electricity customers, no matter which supplier issues your bill. An accurate meter read ensures an accurate bill. Due to this incident, NIE was unable to visit over 100 homes.

All affected customers will need to submit their own meter reading to avoid an estimated bill from their electricity supplier.