“RECKLESS” vandals who used an air rifle to cause £4,000 of damage to a Machynlleth electrical substation put residents’ lives at risk, an energy firm has said.

Police are appealing for witnesses after nine glass insulators on Felingerrig substation were “shot out” sometime between 10am on Sunday, 9 July, and 3am on Monday, 10 July.

The glass parts are used to protect the substation’s 35,000-volt cables from the rain, and police believe it happened in the window of time between when it was last known to have rained, and when the substation shorted, causing a large white flash.

If the insulators had been shot out while it was raining, it could have killed whoever was nearby, said Arwyn Mason of Machynlleth Police Station.

But Scottish Power Energy Networks, which owns the substation and has footed the £4,000 bill, said the damage caused could have also created a power surge and led to house fires in Machynlleth and the surrounding area.

“After reports of faults on the network, our engineers carried out an inspection,” a spokesperson for the firm said.

“We noticed some damage to our kit, and it appears that someone had been using our equipment as target practice for their air rifle. Engineers immediately carried out repairs. This is highly unusual and exceptionally dangerous. It beggars belief that anyone could be so reckless."

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