An investigation is ongoing after a fire at a Huddersfield electricity substation left a power worker injured.

The man was inside the premises on Hill Top Road, Paddock, dealing with a power cut when residents heard a loud bang at 2pm on Sunday.

Emergency services arrived to find his colleagues from Northern Powergrid battling the fire with extinguishers.

The man suffered burns to his head and the effects of breathing in smoke. The Yorkshire Air Ambulance landed nearby but the man was taken to hospital by road ambulance. His condition is not known.

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A spokeswoman for Northern Powergrid said: “We are carrying out a full investigation to help us identify what happened at Hill Top substation whilst our employee was investigating a power cut which affected 35 customers in the High Street area of Paddock.

“We’re offering full support to our employee, who is receiving treatment in hospital, and his family.

Workers at the scene of the electrity substation on Hill Top Road in Paddock where a power worker was hurt

“We would also like to thank his colleagues who were on site at the time for their swift action to call the emergency services, who attended very promptly, and for their presence of mind in immediately notifying our control engineer who quickly isolated power supplies to the substation.

“Incidents such as this are extremely rare so as part of our investigation we will be thoroughly examining the damage to the electrical equipment in the substation and speaking with our employees to understand exactly what happened and why.

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“Customers’ electricity supplies which normally come through this substation have been safely diverted through alternative routes on our network. Once the necessary information has been gathered as part of our investigation we will start the process of repairing the substation so it can be safely reconnected to our network.”

Nearby residents told of their shock at what had happened.

Laura McAuley, 23, Paddock, who heard the loud bang when a power worker was hurt

Laura McAuley, 23, of Paddock, said she heard a “loud bang”. Aszal Hussain, 52, who owns Gohar Superstore in Paddock, said: “I saw the man. He had been singed by the bang and was saying ‘Help, help, help’.”