Power out as van crashes into electricity pole in Market Drayton

The white Renault Master panel van drove into the wooden pole, in Shrewsbury Road, Market Drayton.

Police had to close the road in the interests of public safety while the scene was cleared on Thursday.

Witnesses said some motorists continued to drive by even though cables were bouncing off their cars.

Richard Ewels, spokesman for West Mercia Police, said: "We were informed at around 1.10pm that a Renault Master panel van had collided with an electricity pole.

"Some of the cables had come down and were lying across the road. There were no reports of any injuries.

"The highways department was informed as well as Western Power Distribution."

The crash happened just outside the Phil Lloyd Cars garage.

Tim Clapham, from Phil Lloyd Cars, was walking along the street as it happened.

He said: "I'd just walked past where the van crashed. Twenty seconds earlier and I might have people bringing me grapes.

"I turned around after hearing a loud bang. The cables came down but what was really surprising was that people carried on driving past, the cables were bouncing off their cars.

"The driver was quite shaken and we took him in for a cup of tea. The road has been blocked off so it hasn't been very good for business but nobody was hurt so that's the most important thing."

Jonathan Jones, head chef at the Kings Head Inn in Shrewsbury Road, said: "It happened right at lunchtime and we had about a dozen people in who had all paid for food so we had to apologise and refund them all.

"I'm sure they will all be back but it wasn't great for business."

Speaking after the crash a spokesman for Western Power Distribution said: "We were alerted at 1.30pm that a commercial vehicle had gone into one of our wooden poles. The pole snapped on impact. It affected 82 customers. We sent engineers to the site."

He said eight customers had power restored by 5.55pm, 73 by 8.35pm and the final person by 10.15pm.