A NEW initiative has been launched to help tackle metal theft which caused a power cut in Stockton at the weekend.

Northern Powergrid has joined forces with Crimestoppers to encourage residents to help catch those responsible for the blackout which affected 187 residents in the TS20 area of the town on Sunday afternoon.

A reward of up to £1,000 is being offered for any information which may help lead to the arrest and conviction of the culprits who cut down and attempted to steal up to 700 metres of overhead power lines from the company’s network in the Redmarshall Road, Norton area.

Ian Holmes, Northern Powergrid’s vulnerable assets manager, said: “These thieves brazenly tried to steal from our network. They were reckless and showed a complete disregard for the danger they put themselves, and any innocent passers-by, in tampering with a live section of our electricity lines.

“Our team acted quickly to safely restore power for customer after these metal thieves disrupted local peoples’ Sunday teatime and work is underway to repair the damage caused by these criminals.

“We would encourage anyone who saw any suspicious activity or people on quad bikes in and around the Redmarshall Road area on Sunday teatime to contact our emergency 24-hour number 0800 66 88 77.”

The electricity distributor has also asked local residents who may have seen any suspicious activity or people on quad bikes on Sunday, July 10 at around 5.30pm near Redmarshall Road, Stockton, to contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or Cleveland Police on 101.