Substation fault to blame for Mid Ulster blackout

The power cut, which affected electricity supplies from Cookstown to Ardboe, Coalisland and Dungannon, also saw traffic lights go down in the towns for around 10 minutes.

Tills went down at the local supermarkets just before 6pm and petrol stations died, while offices in the area saw their computer systems fail and restaurants and takeaways lost power too.

A spokesperson for Northern Ireland Electricity said: “On Monday 24th August, several thousand customers in the Dungannon and Cookstown areas lost electricity supplies for 10 minutes following a fault at a main substation in the area.

“Our engineers were able to remotely switch the circuit back in again and we are currently investigating the cause of the power cut.”

Meanwhile Stewartstown, which was also affected by the power cut, will be without street lights for another few nights as TransportNI work to repair a fault that has seen the town consigned to darkness over the past few nights, by August 28.

A spokesperson said: “TransportNI is aware of the street light faults in Stewartstown and is currently working to remedy situation, work is expected to be complete by 28 August.”