ENGINEERS are hoping to identify a fault in the power lines which has led to Innerleithen being cut off 13 times this year.

Another blackout last week has led to more anger in the town.

The fault triggers a power supply cut off every time a bird or branch hits a yet-to-be-identified section of the overhead cables.

And despite carrying out tests over the past few months Scottish Power has yet to locate the problem area.

Friday morning's brief blackout caused yet more frustration for around 500 homes.

Allan Johnstone has contacted Scottish Power several times. He told us: "The town is regularly left in darkness.

"It's not just the inconvenience of having no power but it also can damage things like broadband routers - I'm on my third one this year."

Most of the power outages last for only a few minutes.

But there has also been several longer blackouts.

Mr Johnstone added: "We had similar problems a couple of years ago but it seemed to get resolved.

"I have phoned up a few times this year to complain and I'm given a different reason each time, from birds flying into the cables, branches hitting the cable, or broken ceramics. This needs to get sorted."

As well as households being left without electricity, businesses and shop sin the town are also affected by the unreliable supply.

Engineers were despatched to the Tweed Valley at the start of the year after a recurring fault on the line was identified.

So far they haven't been able to locate the exact location where the blackouts are triggered.

A spokeswoman for Scottish Power said: "The supply is usually just off for around ten seconds or so when something is hitting the line.

"The fault location has not yet been identified although we are narrowing down where it will be.

"We would like to apologise to all of customers who have affected and we are working to resolve the issue."