Utility companies were warned they would be held to account over mistakes that lead to disrupted services following the fallout from June’s power cut.

At a public meeting last Tuesday the council’s environment, sustainability and community scrutiny committee questionned energy company EDF over power cuts, which saw thousands of Twickenham residents miss England’s World Cup goal against the US.

Committee chairman Councillor David Porter said: “It is important utility companies know they have to answer for any mistakes that are made.”

The review of the failure which left homes, shops and businesses without power revealed a faulty component in the ultra-high voltage power cable network between Laleham and Twickenham.

But despite EDF assurances faults on the network section were extremely uncommon, and another power cut on this scale would be unlikely, there was still concern over the reliability of the energy supply.

Coun Porter said: “Despite the repairs and ongoing improvements to the main lines powering the borough, EDF failed to guarantee that as it continued work a similar incident could not happen again.”