The lights are back on at an Angus pub that spent its “most lucrative time of year” in the dark.
The Old Mason’s Arms in East High Street, Forfar, was disconnected by Scottish Hydro Electric on December 26, after an engineer accused its owners of installing a cable to reinstate a supply.
Don and Maria Stewart told The Courier they were pleased to reopen on Wednesday, after a month-long struggle that had a “nightmarish effect” on them.
The pub’s supply problems began on Boxing Day when an outage in the area caused the lights to go off at lunchtime.
A temporary repair was made by Scottish Hydro Electric but the power failed again at 7pm.
Mr Stewart said: “It all started with a power cut in the street. I was called at 11am as there was no power in the pub.
“There was a fault found in the junction box, which had water in it. Then I received a phone call at 4pm on Thursday from a Hydro Electric employee who said he had inspected my meter and that there had been tampering with cables.”
Mr Stewart was left fighting a total switch-off to the bar for four weeks, in which time he estimates he lost up to £25,000 in trade, and perhaps regular customers.
Despite attempts to convince the firm to reconnect his business, pleas fell on deaf ears and his pub remained in darkness while he waited to be reconnected to the supply.
He added: “To be humiliated in front of staff, customers and the general public and be accused publicly of being thieves had an absolutely nightmarish effect on us, during what should have been a happy occasion for my family, with my son and daughter-in-law coming home from Australia on holiday.”
A spokeswoman for Scottish Hydro Electric said: “I can confirm that the power had been disconnected at the property, for safety reasons only. It is my understanding that the pub has now been reconnected to supply and the concerns have been resolved.”
Mr Stewart admitted that he had replaced an electricity cable linked to a cut-out fuse box, but said the work had been carried out by a fully-qualified local electrician in good faith.
“It replaced a 1950s-style cable which had lost its integrity,” he said. “The engineer accused me of taking out a fuse and putting in a cable, reinstating a supply. In his report he stated that this replacement cable was hot and melting, which is untrue.
“For a company of their size to put me off, at the busiest time of the year, there’s no excuse for pushing people around that long. It was disgusting. They just pulled the plug without any discussion or negotiation.”
Despite an agreement there was no interference with a meter, the firm believed an attempt had been made to reconnect a terminated supply.
The pub’s former incarnation as the Flower of Scotland was connected to that supply and had ceased trading in 2008.
Despite the business of the wiring being clarified, Mr Stewart was forced to apply for a reconnection, which cost him a further £107.
“They have put us through the most stressful time of our lives at a cost of many thousands of pounds for the sake of £107. It beggars belief,” he said.
The pub is putting on an all-day “Hogmanay party” on Sunday, to make up for a planned evening of entertainment that did not go ahead.
riwatt@thecourier.co.uk