Fish power wins U-turn from electricity giant as Preston pub stays open through blackout

The bar pets at the Sitting Goose near Preston looked doomed when Electricity North West announced they would be cutting supplies to the alehouse yesterday for essential roadworks outside.

But a last minute stay of execution came when the company did a U-turn and loaned landlord Rob Theile a generator to keep his beer cold and his fish warm during the power outage.

"It was touch and go," said Rob. "But Electricity North West came through in the end and I'm very grateful. So too were all our customers who love our cold beer - and our fish."

The fishy tale began when the pub was told it was one of a dozen properties in Lea scheduled to be cut off from 9am-5pm.

When Rob protested, saying he would have to close for the day and his fish would be at risk, he claimed the company refused to help.

Rob called in the Post saying he had been cast adrift. "The beer will go warm and the fish tank will go cold if we're turned off for that length of time," he told us.

"I'll have no chillers, so we won't be able to serve ale and we'll have to close for the day.

"The fish, which are loved by our customers, will almost certainly die because their water has be kept at a constant 25 degrees with heaters, pumps and lights. They take a lot of looking after.

"I feel we've been abandoned by Electricity North West. We're going to lose hundreds of pounds in takings and the company is refusing to help. They say getting an alternative electricity supply is our responsibility."

While Rob set about trying to find a generator himself, the Post contacted ENW for an explanation and just two days before the supply was due to be cut off the company replied saying simply: "We’ll be providing the customer with a generator on the day of the outage."

Rob was able to open his pub yesterday as normal while Hooter - a long nose butterfly fish - and his mates were able to entertain the customers unaware of the fuss they had caused.