Neighbour's electric cable in my garden

simonb73

I own a ground floor maisonette and the neighbour in the upstairs maisonette is an elderly lady living on her own.

We have been there one year and are now in the process of doing up the back garden. The first floor maisonette has a white cable running from their part of the building to a shed in their garden. The garden is located behind mine and there is a side path over which the first floor has right of way for access.

I understand that the cable was used to connect the shed for electricity, although this may now be defunct according to the old lady. The problem is that the cable is suspended in the air (on the other side of my garden from the side path) between the first floor maisonette and the shed without any other support. This is an eyesore and would appear that it is not an armoured cable. It is potentially unsafe in my opinion and causing me concern as my one year old son will be playing in the garden this summer. It is out of his reach as it is about 6 feet off the ground but I do not know how well secured it is.

The old lady has indicated to me that she would be happy for me to remove the cable as it is no longer in use. I do not feel that I should do this as there could be a safety risk depending on whether the connection is still live and there could be a liability placed on me should something go wrong (even if I were to arrange a professional to do this on her behalf).

The problem is that I will need to deal through her son who I'm not certain will be very helpful. With this in mind, I would appreciate any hints or suggestions on the above. The cable was there before I purchased the ground floor maisonette and at the very least must be unsafe. I would like to be able to stress the importance of getting this resolved quickly to the son.

jamesperrett

If this had been done properly, the cable would be attached to a wire for support. If it is then I wouldn't necessarily assume that it is unsafe - although it wouldn't pass the latest building regs.

James.

F_T_Buyer

Is it just an extension, hence just unplug it from her end?

simonb73

Don't think this is a simple extension although not easy to see. The cable connects with the main property above the window of the first floor maisonette (and just below the roof) so quite high up. I suspect there is a box or some sort of connection taking this into the first floor maisonette and connecting it the electricity supply. Tempting to give the cable a big yank but probably not a good idea, particularly if it's still live!

LandyAndy

Presumably you can test whether it is live by going to the 'shed end' and seeing what if anything it is connected to and switching that thing on or connecting some thing like a lamp to it?

If it isn't live I would be tempted to simply cut it off at the house end.

societys_child

As suggested by F T buyer, it might be just an extension lead with a plug. You need to investigate and even if it is wired directly, it would be reasonably simple to disconnect and leave safe before removing the wire. You are allowed to do some electrical work yourself. Won't she let in to look?

edit
if it is to a connector block / box of some kind just disconnect it from there

simonb73

I guess that cutting it off at the house would involve employing a professional? I could test the outside cable but that doesn't mean that the old lady doesn't have a switch she's forgotten to flick that will charge up the circuit. That dead wire isn't so dead anymore. perhaps it is more a case of disconnecting it at the consumer unit (or something similar) to be certain which kinda brings me back to getting the son to do something about this.

Alybea

Have look in the shed, unplug from tumble dryer/freezer/what ever it's attached to wind up and pull sharply to detach from house?

JQ.

I'd just offer to pay an electrician to come round and disconnect it. Makes you look good, means you don't have to involve the son and gives you the confidence that it's been done properly. I'd imagine it's a 5 minute job and is not likely to cost very much.

warehouse

JQ. wrote: »

I'd just offer to pay an electrician to come round and disconnect it. Makes you look good, means you don't have to involve the son and gives you the confidence that it's been done properly. I'd imagine it's a 5 minute job and is not likely to cost very much.

Agreed. It really is a 30 minute job max, no more than £20, keeps the peace and solves the problem. Everyone wins.

GCH888

She's fortunate to have a law-abiding citizen like yourself as a neighbour. I could imagine someone a bit dodgy stealing the old lady's electricty by connecting the wire to their own appliances.