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Simon Duke

GMB's Ben Shephard takes energy boss to task over North East power crisis

Ben Shephard has taken an energy boss to task over the power crisis in the North East, as tens of thousands of people are still without electricity in their homes.

The ongoing plight of many people in the region was highlighted on Friday's Good Morning Britain, when the show delivered an on location report from County Durham.

One of those suffering as result of the power loss brought about by Storm Arwen is Brenda Raine, who was interviewed by Nick Dixon and told him that the biggest issue she was facing was her stair lift not working, meaning she had to crawl on her hands and knees every time she wanted to get upstairs.

READ MORE: North East power cut updates as military called in

Another resident was interviewed by a log burning fire, her own source of heat as she dealt with her second day without power.

Later on in GMB, Ben and co-host Kate Garraway were joined by Ross Easton, from the Energy Networks Association, just as it was confirmed that the military had been called into assist with what has now been declared a 'major incident.'

GMB host Ben Shephard takes on energy boss over power crisis (ITV)

Putting Mr Easton on the spot, Ben asked: "By early next week you're hoping that most houses, if not all of them, will have their power back?"

He replied: "We're working flat out to make sure they are reconnected as quickly as we possibly can.

"We're bringing in generators as well, we've got people on the ground trying to get everything reconnected.

Mr Easton then explained that in one of the affected areas in County Durham, there are 30 miles of electricity cable that need to be rebuilt.

On hearing that, Ben pressed: "So you're still discovering the problems?

Mr Easton explained: "We've been using helicopters and drones to get into those rural locations to see exactly what's going on."

When asked by Ben on why that 'didn't happen straight away, the exec blamed "challenging weather conditions."

Still pressing for answers, Ben added: "What we know though and clearly you're working very hard, we can see that, but the communication of what's going on to people like Brenda - Brenda has to crawl up the stairs...on all fours!"

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