Lancashire homes are set to be hit with planned power cuts later this week as Electricity North West (ENW) carry out “vital” maintenance work.

Dozens of customers are set to be affected by the planned outages which are set to take place in six Lancashire towns and cities between now and 25 January.

There is also a live power and unplanned cut taking place today (18 January) in Ormskirk where 15 customers are affected.

Clive Wilkinson, operations director at Electricity North West, said the ENW team will give customers at least 10 days’ notice before carrying out a planned power cut in the area.

He said: “A lot of the work we do happens in the background and customers aren’t always affected, we even have ‘live lines’ teams who can work on live electricity equipment without turning power off, however, sometimes we do have to turn people’s power off so that our engineers can work on the network safely.

“Planned power cuts allow us to carry out vital work such as maintaining the network, carrying out repairs and installing new connections, which ensures that homes and businesses continue receive the best supply possible in the long term.

“With every planned power cut, we’ll always give at least 10 days’ notice, won’t turn power off before 9am and electricity will be back on before 5pm.

“Unfortunately, not all power cuts are planned and can happen for a variety of reasons with no warning because of the weather, vandalism or even birds hitting overhead lines.

"Our teams are on hand 24/7 365 days a year and should anybody ever need any more information during a power cut, whether planned or not, they can follow Electricity North West on Twitter or Facebook for updates, or call us free on 105.”

Live power cuts in Lancashire

A live power cut is taking place in the West Lancashire town of Ormskirk and the power cut is impacting 15 customers.

The following postcodes are affected: L39 2EY, L39 2XB, L39 2EX, L39 2EL, L39 1PX

It has been caused by an “unexpected incident” with an underground cable which was reported last night (17 January) at 9:39pm.  

A spokesperson said: “We didn't know before your electricity went off that this was going to happen but now we know, rest assured we will get your power back on safely and as quickly as possible".

ENW hope to restore power to these homes by 4pm.

Planned power cuts in Lancashire

Here is a full list of power cuts planned in Lancashire between now and 25 January:

Thornley, Preston
Date of planned power cut: 18 January
Customers without supply: 4
Postcodes affected: PR3 2TD

Tarleton, Preston
Date of planned power cut: 18 January
Customers without supply: 12
Postcodes affected: PR4 6JJ

Longridge, Preston
Date of planned power cut: 19 January
Customers without supply: 9
Postcodes affected: PR3 2TA

Morecambe
Date of planned power cut: 19 January
Customers without supply: 7
Postcodes affected: LA4 5SU

Lancaster
Date of planned power cut: 20 January
Customers without supply: 22
Postcodes affected: LA2 6PE, LA2 6PQ, LA2 6RL

Blackburn
Date of planned power cut: 20 January
Customers without supply: 22
Postcodes affected: BB1 5QF, BB1 5QH, BB1 3EA, BB1 5SJ, BB1 5QR, BB1 5PF

Burnley
Date of planned power cut: 23 January
Customers without supply: 3
Postcodes affected: BB12 0RU, BB12 0DQ

Skelmersdale
Date of planned power cut: 25 January
Customers without supply: 11
Postcodes affected: WN8 9QP, WN8 9PA, WN8 9AT

Freckleton, Preston
Date of planned power cut: 25 January
Customers without supply: 5
Postcodes affected: PR4 1UH, PR4 1SA, PR4 1SF