TOWN centre businesses have lost power for the third time in a week - causing huge damage to their trade.

Following power cuts on Wednesday and Friday, some shops couldn't believe it when lights went off again on Thursday morning.

This is now the fifth time in three months that their businesses have been affected by loss of power.

Gravesham Borough Council leader Mike Snelling has demanded action from EDF.

He said: "At a time when the council is doing all it can to encourage and help local traders, this situation is absolutely unacceptable. I have demanded that EDF meet us and not only explain the problem but tell us exactly how they are dealing with it."

He said the council will keep traders informed of the outcome.

It went off for many premises in the High Street and New Road on Wednesday morning, just five days after the last power cut.

Many of the shops in St George's centre had to close temporarily, and the train station also lost power, although trains were still running and passengers were being told to buy tickets at their destination.

An EDF spokesman said: "Power was interrupted to 320 customers in Gravesend town centre at 10.26am on Wednesday following a fault on the high voltage electricity network. EDF Energy Networks engineers are on the way to locate, and repair, the fault."

On Friday shops and businesses in New Road were forced to shut early after being plunged into darkness for five hours.

Power was lost in at least six premises, after a fault on an underground cable.

Thames News in the Thamesgate Shopping Centre struggled on for a few hours using emergency lights, but eventually its stand-by power also failed.

Baker’s Oven was unable to use its tills or serve hot food after its ovens stopped working and, with no heaters, workers shivered behind the counter as temperatures plummeted to two degrees celsius outside.

The dark did not stop dozens of customers from queuing in Lloyds TSB, while Birthdays, Barclays and Game in New Road all had to close.

Under regulator Ofgem, traders can only apply for compensation if they have experienced a minimum of four power cuts in a year, all of which must last more than three hours.

EDF Energy is investigating the cause of Friday’s power cut to see if there are any underlying problems with the distribution network.

Homes have also been affected.

Forty houses in the Thistle Road area of Gravesend lost power at 6.27pm on Tuesday after a fault at a local electricity substation.

EDF engineers managed to restore supplies, but only until 10.36pm when it went off again. Supplies were reconnected at 8.30am.

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