Much of Polperro was plunged into darkness around 6am on Wednesday morning, when an electric pole in Talland Hill exploded, setting showers of sparks everywhere, causing a dangerous situation. It took engineers a total of ten hours to repair the damage, the supply not being returned to the Talland Hill and Fore Street areas until 4pm in the afternoon.

Local parish councillor and Caradon councillor, John Yaxley, said he lost a day's trading as did other shopkeepers, and people were inconvenienced in their homes. However, he said what worried villagers most was the danger of the situation. 'Such was the ferocity of the explosion it doesn't bear thinking about the injuries that could have been caused later in the day when children could have been walking on their way to school' he said.

Mr Yaxley said villagers were fed up with problems over the years with Polperro's supply and wanted something done about it. He said the problem was the sub station opposite the House on Props which was overloaded.

Two representatives from Western Electricity visited the village yesterday (Thursday) and during a helpful meeting with Mr Yaxley targeted the Caradon owned part of Big Green as the ideal area for a new sub station. 'They want to sort out the problem as soon as possible and will be talking to Gerry Masters at Caradon to try and get something done by Easter when the next high overload will be expected' he said.

Mr Yaxley said as Caradon councillor he will be doing all he can to persuade the council to move quickly in support of Western Electricity's plan.