"Two Scottish and Southern Energy Power Distribution engineers, part of an emergency repair team, were trying to restore power to 11,000 homes in Oxfordshire when they were called out 17-miles to the PM's £2m house in Chipping Norton - only to find it was just a tripped fuse."

http://www.independent.co.uk/n...box-goes-9088320.html

I was staying with my sister a few years ago (at Christmas) and a female student from a house up the road came up to my sister and I to ask what they should do because all their electrical applicances had stopped working. I told them to check their fuse box - they did and tried reset the main fuse but it tripped out straight away - so they came back out to ask for more advice thinking they weren't going to get a Christmas dinner that year.

I am not sure what a qualified electrican would advise at this stage, but I told them to switch off all their appliances, and then to try and re-engage the fuse again. If it re-engaged then to switch on the appliances one by one until they find the one that has failed.

They came back a few minites later to say their kettle had boiled dry...

How many members of the UK government would fail the Christmas fuse intelligence test?

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James Arathoon

Fuses don't trip, they blow.


I used to work for a DNO, and such call-outs were are extremely common. The call centre do try their best to talk the customer through where to check, but sometimes the home-owner just does not know where to look, or is not comfortable or confident with electrics. So, it is not just the PM that DNOs respond to!


And take the story with a pinch of salt - the two engineers may well have been (and probably were) the LV rapid-response; rather than the team getting the HV network back together.