Man Climbs Pylon Cutting Off North Tyneside Power

37,000 homes were without power last night after a man climbed the pylon in Killingworth to 'touch live wires'. At 8:43pm last night officers received a report that a man had climbed an electricity pylon in a field near to Simonside Way.

Police said the man (who has not been named) was “attempting to touch the live wires”. Officers alerted Northern Powergrid who turned off the power in the area just after 9pm. This left tens of thousands of homes in the surrounding area without electricity as the electricity provider worked to divert power from the Killingworth pylons via alternative routes. After half an hour only one home was left without electricity.

A police car blocked off the field where the pylon stands, and a cordon was put in place to keep the public from entering.An ambulance was on standby, parked next to the pathway onto the field, and dozens of officers attended the scene.

The news fast spread around Killingworth via social media,causing concerned crowds to gather at the field near Simonside Way to watch the tense stand-off as emergency services tried to talk the man down. He could be seen standing halfway up the pylon, gripping onto a power cable and swaying in the wind.

As well as concerned locals hit social media to spread updates on the event. Northumbria Police had continual updates on their Facebook and Twitter pages. Although many local residents were concerned about the man, many reacted to the event in a heartless way by comment rather shocking comments due to the ignorance and knowledge of the event.

Kelly Medlen, one of the concerned neighbours watching the event said "He was hanging from it, and people were saying he was dead".

The man eventually came down after three-and-a-half hours of negotiations with police and paramedics. The man came down at around midnight and following the incident, a police spokesperson said: “The man who had climbed up the pylon is now down safely and has been taken to hospital to be checked over.

Northumbria Police spokesman said "We would like to thank the fire service, ambulance service and NEDL for their help this evening. We would also like to thank the public and the local community for their support, patience and assistance they showed officers while dealing with this very difficult incident"

A spokeswoman for Northern Powergrid said: “After receiving a call from the police alerting us to someone climbing one of our electricity towers (pylons) in the Killingworth area, we isolated electricity supplies in the area so police could safely deal with the incident. We are continuing to support the police whilst they manage this incident and we are sorry for the disruption.”