YOUNGSTERS who have been blacking out large areas of Tidworth for short periods in recent days by interfering with high power electricity cables in the Perham Down area have been warned they risk being electrocuted and burned alive.

The individuals have caused at least half a dozen interruptions in the town by shorting the 11,000 volt power lines leading into the area from Ludgershall and the incidents are being investigated by Tidworth police who have appealed for information.

Southern Electric Power Distribution spokeswoman Sharon Miller McKenzie said: “This is a very serious situation where the children are at risk as well as the interruption to power supplies “There have been six or seven very short interruptions to power supplies and there is a strong likelihood that children have been throwing branches at the power lines.

“They would have seen a flash and that would have led to our safety equipment kicking in and causing the interruption.

“We have spoken to the local school and we may well pay a visit to the school so that children are in no doubt about how dangerous this could be.”

Additional safety stickers have been put in the area to warn of the danger of death.

Tidworth mayor, Cllr Chris Franklin, said: “I spent some time with the SEB and police at Perham and saw a large branch that had been thrown across three wires.

“They are extremely lucky children as if the branch had been damp the electricity could have got them before it even hit the wire and they would have been fried.”

The wires being targeted are around 17ft off the ground – suggesting that it was older children who are involved in this activity.

The danger of 11,000 volt cables was highlighted earlier this year when an agricultural contractor was heavily fined following the electrocution of 21-year-old farm worker Edward Pybus at Crystal Palace Farm in Ludgershall in 2007.