Following his work on behalf of Kings Worthy residents who have suffered from a spate of power cuts over recent months, Steve Brine has given a cautious welcome to news that SSE Power Distribution are taking the matter seriously.
In a letter to the Winchester & Chandler's Ford MP, SSE confirmed they were aware that four major power cuts had hit residents this year alone, and recognised a large number of their customers were affected.
In an investigation, they found a range of causes, including third party cable damage, an 'unusual' transformer fault, and a joint failure on an 11,000 volt underground cable.
Staff at the company's New Forest depot have reviewed the networks supplying the village and say they have made alterations to improve performance, as well as consulting their planning and design department to look at further improvements.
A spokesman said: "I would like to reassure you that we take all supply interruptions most seriously and are continuously investing to improve the reliability and performance of our supply networks through regular maintenance and inspections.
"I trust the above has explained the recent problems we have experienced and actions we have taken to improve the supply reliability to the King's Worthy area."
Steve Brine commented: "I can well imagine local residents thinking 'here we go again' over recent months, and as well as being highly inconvenient I hope SSE realise just how many people are trying to run businesses from home and just how large their level of frustration has been.
"I am pleased the company has looked into this issue, and I am cautiously optimistic that local residents will no longer suffer from these power cuts. From my end, I will be continuing to monitor this situation closely, and would ask anyone in Kings Worthy who experiences any further problems to get in touch with me right away."