Shropshire pylon route letters go to wrong homes

National Grid has admitted that some of the 90,000 information packs which were meant to be sent to homes along the proposed route of a 30-mile powerline through Shropshire and Mid Wales have gone to the wrong houses.

A technical glitch has been blamed for some packs being wrongly addressed.

The line, which could be a combination of overhead pylons and underground cabling, will take the power harnessed from wind farms in Mid Wales to the National Grid main line through Shropshire.

From a proposed substation at Cefn Coch it will travel north-west via Llansantffraid and south of Llanymynech and Oswestry before ending at Lower Frankton.

National Grid sent out the 90,000 packs complete with a large map of the preferred route as it announced its plans last week.

It was only when some started being returned that staff realised they had been wrongly addressed.

Clive Wilson, from Lower Frankton, lives within a few hundred yards of the end of the proposed power line but has heard nothing.

"There are five or six pylons proposed within a few hundred metres of my home yet I have not been contacted by National Grid," he said.

"The houses most affected by this decision, which overlook the site, are still waiting to be contacted. I can see three from my front gate."

He said that further annoyance was caused by the announcement that National Grid was holding a number of information events in the Oswestry and Welshpool area, but none at Lower or Welsh Frankton.

National Grid said there will be a meeting in West Felton Village Hall on Wednesday from 2-8pm.

Jane Taylor, from the power company, said: "We only realised there was a problem when they started being returned to us. As soon as we are getting the packs back in the post we are re-addressing them."

The next public meeting will be at Meifod Village Hall tomorrow from 10am to 4pm.

By Sue Austin