Found a big electricity cable - what now?

[Felix99]

In the process of doing some work on our garden we have found a whopping armoured cable running along the whole length of our garden. It's about a metre inside our boundary.

On the other side of the bounday is a public footpath; the house was built in the 70s on part of a large plot. Needless to say there's nothing on our deeds or searches which showed the cable in place.

We're planning to have a extension built later this year and leaving the cable in place (or keeping clear of it to ensure it's still accessible) will cost us a lot of internal space, but getting it moved looks like a really big and expensive project. I can see trouble ahead trying to get it resolved.

The cable is protected by ceramic plates with the electricity company name on (not our current supplier) but I'm nervous of contacting them without understanding where I stand.

I've heard about wayleaves but every website I find seems to look like a "no win no fee" outfit and would really appreciate some sensible advice about how to proceed.

Any advice greatly appreciated!

 

[noseall]

why not build over the cable. it feeds electricity. its shape can distort while not compromising its function.

i would seek advice before compromising your project.

 

[JohnD]

I happen to know that electricity companies have generally lost or mis-filed their old Wayleaves contracts. They may try to bluff you by not admitting this.

You could start by writing to the company that owns the network in your area saying that you have discovered this cable, it did not appear on your searches. can they tell why not, is it live and does it appear on their maps.

If it appears to be too shallow, say so.

If as is quite likely they have no evidence that it was put on your land with permission, they might be in a weak position to lay down the law to you.

Ask them for a copy of the wayleave for this cable and see what happens. If they send you a sample one, that is not signed by a previus landowner, they have probably lost it (if there ever was one). It might be that the cable was supposed to be under the road and there was a mistake at some time.

It could be inconvenient for you if you want to excavate or build on that part of your land.

There is a slim chance they might make a payment to you for it; however it might have been put in at the time the supply was made to your house as part of the supply contract.

 

[Felix99]

Thanks for the advice, Noseall and JohnD. The shallowness is one thing; we only found it as we were doing some terracing on the garden (it's a really steep site) so it was probably at an acceptable depth.

I guess my nervousness in building over it is we don't want someone turning up at a later date and demanding access to it when we've plonked an extension there. Maybe I'm being over-cautious. No-one seems to have wanted to get at it for the last twenty years...

I think in truth the cable was laid before the house was built but I'll take your advice and ask for what in thw way of agreements/rights the electricity co. can prove they have first.

Thanks again.

If anyone else has had similar experiences, would be great to hear.

Cheers