TRADERS in Chorleywood are threatening to sue Eastern Electricity for loss of earnings after frequent power cuts have forced their shops to shut.

Shopkeepers on one side of Main Parade, Whitelands Avenue, said they had lost thousands of pounds because their shops had been plunged into darkness without warning.

Shops on the other side of the road are served by a different electricity company and not affected by the power cuts.

In the past five months there have been five blackouts and shopkeepers fear the problem is getting worse.

Earlier this month the 12 shops on the parade were forced to shut early when the electricity company pulled the plug at 1pm without warning.

Mr Hitesh Dodhia, of Parade Pharmacy, said the problem was getting out of hand.

He said: "It is not only the lights which go off when the power supply goes down. Not only can I not use my till but I have medicines stored in the fridge and I can't get access to my patients' records which are stored on computer.

"I like to check customers' records when I prescribe them drugs but this is no longer possible."

Owners of Mace supermarket, Mr John and Mrs Jackie May, claimed they lost £200 of business during the afternoon the power was switched off.

They said they had tried to get compensation in the past for their goods which are stored in cool rooms but were told not to bother unless the power had been switched off for more than 12 hours.

Last year, the couple spent £80 hiring generators after the electricity company told them the power would be off for five hours but it only went off for an hour and-a-half.

Mr May said: "This time of year we can only work until 3pm before it gets too dark to see anything in the shop. Eastern Electricity does not seem to appreciate we have a business to run."

Owner of Chorleywood Sports, Mr Anthony Vos, said he was fed up with the problem and would be asking for compensation.

He added: "We are losing a lot of potential custom from people who drive past and think we are shut because there are no lights on in the shops."

His calls were backed by Mr Brendan Reilly, of children's clothes shop Hopscotch, who criticised what he called Eastern Electricity's cavalier attitude to the problem.

He said: "Staff at the electricity company do not seem to care what inconvenience this causes us.

"If it happens again I will report them to the electricity watchdog, Offer."

The shopkeepers case has been taken up by Three Rivers District councillor Mrs Tricia Birchley, who said she had written to Eastern Electricity asking for a meeting.

Shopkeepers say the problem started in 1992 when the village was flooded.

Dr Dodhia said the electricity company wrote to him in January 1993 telling him "work on the new substation should commence in the near future," but he claims nothing has been done.

Mr Orson Pluck, head of emergency response at Eastern Electricity, said: "I would like to apologise to all our customers for the inconvenience and reassure them we have launched an investigation to discover the problem.

"We did some work in September which we thought had solved the problem but, unfortunately, this is not the case.

"It is not normal for us to pay compensation when the supply failures occur but we will consider individual cases on their merits."

Mrs Lyn Randall, of Pet Fayre, said Eastern Electricity said the problem was getting out of control.

She added: "The whole situation is shocking. Eastern Electricity hasn't even kept a record of all our complaints."

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