Thieves risked their lives to steal copper wire from an electricity substation near Bridgnorth – and cut off supplies to thousands of customers.
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More than 4,000 businesses and householders were without power for up to three hours on Wednesday after the sub-station was attacked – the second in the area in recent weeks.
Central Networks spokeswoman Deanna Mooney said that the intruders were targetting copper to sell.
“It is quite dangerous to break into the sub-stations and they are risking their lives,” she explained.
“It is a problem that is prevalent across the country and the copper is being taken because of the high price it fetches.
“Not only does it inconvenience customers but means our engineers have to go out to make the situation safe.”
Central Networks are not revealing the exact location of the sub-station following this week’s incident, because of fears that it could be vandalised again.
A total of 4,523 customers were affected by the power cut which started at 9.50am, with all supplies back on by 1pm.
A large chunk of Bridgnorth was affected and the High Street emptied as shops and banks shut their doors.
Other areas affected included Morville, Worfield, Badger, Rudge, Roughton, Hilton and Stanmore.