'Dicing with death' - the thief who stole copper wire from electricity sub station in Bolton

A thoughtless thief brought misery to homes, businesses and schools in Bolton after stealing copper wire worth just £2.

Engineers from Electricity North West are still working in the Great Lever area of Bolton after an intruder broke into a sub-station, ignoring warnings of a risk to life at the 11,000 volt facility.

More than 1300 homes lost power and a school is still not fully re-connected. The bill for the damage will exceed a hundred thousand pounds.

Three days on from the break-in 70 engineers have been working around the clock to fix the damage.

As a result of the power surge - many appliances were damaged and needed to be checked to see if they are safe to use.

The Essa Academy Primary school in Great Lever lost heating, lighting and water and was forced to close and left counting the cost of the damage.

Parents and pupils have yet to be told when the school is safe to re-open.