Underground cable from pole

[hampshiresparrow]

I was digging up a shrub in my front garden this morning and came across a black cable, about half an inch in diameter. It was (still is) about 6 inches under the surface.
I almost chopped through it with my long handled loppers while cutting through shrub roots, fortunately I realised in time!

Tracing this cable, it comes down an electricity supply pole that sits in my front garden. Then it seems to go under the lane outside my house. Across the road is my garage, which has it's own meter and supply, presumably coming via this cable (though there is a pole on the other side of the road as well also with a cable coming down it so it is more likely that the garage supply comes that way.

Question: Who owns and is responsible for this cable, which to my mind is inadequately protected from damage? Can I get it more properly protected without getting charged?
And finally, who do I contact to get it sorted?

Thanks

Hampshire Sparrow

 

[JohnD]

if it is between the pole and your meter , it belongs to the electricity distribution co. It is possible to look up who this is according you where you are, but you don't need to do this, just contact the phone no on your electricity bill. They are responsible for knowing which company deals with what.

Say it is near the surface and might have been damaged when you were gardening. try not to get into arguments about whether it would be safe if you were more careful. Just keep saying it is near the surface, not marked, and liable to damage. i don't think it will hurt to say you think you nicked it with your spade (if this is the case).

The owner of the cable is responsible for it (although if you deliberately or recklessly damaged it you might have to pay)

 

[Lectrician]

they will likely turn up and place some concrete cable markers on top. If you are lucky, they will be kind to your bush

They are very unlikely to put it any deeper TBH - they will make any excuse!

If it was done these days, it would most likely be done to a better standard, but my guess is the cable was installed by the builder or customer, and not the DNO. They would have signed to say they had complied with the depths, back fill standard etc........but clearly didn't. It is common for the consumer or contractor to install cable and duct to make the provision of a service cheaper - "The contestable works".

 

[hampshiresparrow]

Thanks JohnD. Yes, it is between the pole and my meter. I looked up the distribution company on the web and it is SSE Power Distribution.

We moved into this house in the summer and have no knowledge of where the cables go. I think the previous owners had the supply put into the garage - they had the garage built in the early 90s. Presumably there is a separate meter and supply from the pole becasue it is the other side of the lane to my house.

The house supply comes off the top of the pole overhead to the house, but the house has been there a lot longer.

Hampshire Sparrow

 

[Stoday]

i don't think it will hurt to say you think you nicked it with your spade (if this is the case).

I wouldn't risk saying that. I know that if a contractor is working on a site and does not check where the cables are but damages one, he has to pay for the repair. You run the risk that the DNO uses a possibly damaged cable as an excuse to lay a new one to the full depth and charge you for it.

You don't know that it wasn't laid to the full depth initially and some soil has been removed from the surface over the years.

 

[JohnD]

good point. So I suppose just say it is so shallow that it is at risk of being spaded?

I had a similar experience in an old house of mine - I thought it was a tree root, tried to chop it with the spade couldn't so pulled it up to the surface and realised what it was.

I dug a trench and pushed it deeper.