A man has described the terrifying moment he almost plunged his spade into a mains electricity cable - just over one foot below the garden surface.

Phil Lewis was replacing a broken fence in Ashford when he saw the warning board.

UK Power Networks (UKPN) quickly attended the scene in Church Road, Willesborough, and have warned contact with underground cables can prove fatal.

Mr Lewis said: "I didn’t feel like dying by electrocution, hence we stopped digging."

The 61-year-old contacted KentOnline as he wants to alert others to the potential dangers.

"It was a bit scary finding this caution warning board so close to a broken fence post," he said.

"I have replaced three other fence posts next to this one and this is the first time, to my horror, I found an underground electricity service cable warning only one foot below ground surface."

He had never seen one of the signs before so he stopped digging and - after seeking advice on Facebook and Google - called UKPN.

He says workers from UKPN "attended very quickly due to the severity of the situation" and said he did the right thing to stop digging.

"The sign was really close to where we were digging, and we had no idea how much further down the cables would be," he said.

"A man from UKPN extracted the old broken fence post, and cut the warning board tape to locate the mains electrical cables.

"The service electrical mains inward cables were literally just under the warning tape that was only one foot below ground level.

"I am not a builder or ground worker. I am a car audio and auto electrical installer and this was a DIY repair job at our home - even more reason for others to take this kind of thing seriously, as it could lead to death if caution thrown to the wind.

"Our particular scenario goes to show that one should never be complacent and to presume that whoever before them has followed any regulatory guidelines and if safe to dig further.

"It's also a good job to whoever put the warning tape there in the first place!"

He says he is very grateful to UKPN for sorting the issue so swiftly when called out earlier this month.

UKPN told KentOnline anyone carrying out excavation work should plan ahead and stay safe.

"UK Power Networks has more than 41,000km of underground electricity cables in the South East to keep power flowing to homes and businesses.," a spokesperson said.

"Contact with underground cables or overhead power lines can result in injury or even be fatal and simple safety steps can save lives.

"Customers are urged to request cable plans in advance when carrying out fencing, gardening, building, construction and excavation work using diggers, pneumatic drills and hand tools.

"Cable plans can be obtained before starting work via UK Power Networks website or the line search before you dig website. For larger projects use a Cable Avoidance Tool (CAT).

"Any emergency incident involving electricity cables, or damaged cabling, should be reported by dialing 105."