Cables buried in the garden!

Joanthebone

I have been trying to dig out a small tree stump in my new garden, I have come across a thick twisted 'rope' of black wires about 6 inches down and going right under the stump. I showed an electrician and he suggested they were 'telecom' or Sky cables. I really don't know what to do next, I think its strange that they are in the back garden, going away from the property and am scared to do any more digging!


Has anyone got any experience of this or any advice for me!??

huckster

If you keep digging this tree stump out, you may also damage the cables, damaging your connections and possibly neighbours. You may then have to pay for the repairs, although you may have accidental damage on your Home Insurance for accidentally damaging underground pipes and cables.

If you want deal with this properly you are going to have to dig a deeper area around the tree stump and see if you can move the cables to a safe place. It may not move and you will then have to do more careful digging.

Or you don't bother removing the tree stump.

Barny1979

Probably best contacting the potential telecoms companies and asking for their advice. They'll probably say that they will remove the stump on your behalf at a cost so as to protect their asset.

Nilrem

If they're telecom they're most likely going to be BT or if you've got cable in the area VM or Kingston (if you're in Kingston).

Huckster has it right I think, if they are telecomms cables the telecoms company may be willing to assist as it'll be cheaper and easier for them to move the cables at a planned time/date than deal with potential complaints and downtime if they're damaged (I'm a bit surprised they weren't already damaged by the tree if it's grown around them).

How thick are the cables?
I ask because it's not unknown for electrical cables to be burried that shallow - the regs say they should be deeper, but I know when a neighbour had to have his cable replaced (it had burnt out/been damaged) it turned out that it was only about 6-9 inches under his front garden (they didn't bury it any deeper, but he took steps to protect it from future spades and forks).

moneyistooshorttomention

Do you actually have telecom or Sky yourself? or would these be cables serving other peoples property only?

WobblyDog

Are there any markings or text printed on the cables? That might indicate the cable type and what kind of organisation is responsible for them.

Joanthebone

Thank you all, the cables have no markings but they look like several cables twisted together, and have no protection. They are about 2" across, I have not dug under so that's a guess. They are in the back garden. The previous owners of the flat had Sky, I don't. I am happy with Freeview. The previous owners were not gardeners either. The tree must have been there donkeys years as the cables appear to be right through the middle of the stump.


The stump has to come out, Its only a little garden and I want to make the most of it, also I am having new fencing soon and it will be in the way



I will try BT this morning and dig carefully to expose more cable, see if I can work out where they go. If they were in my front garden I could understand them being there.


Thank you all for your replies.

Dan-Dan

Joanthebone wrote: »

Thank you all, the cables have no markings but they look like several cables twisted together, and have no protection. They are about 2" across, I have not dug under so that's a guess. They are in the back garden. The previous owners of the flat had Sky, I don't. I am happy with Freeview. The previous owners were not gardeners either. The tree must have been there donkeys years as the cables appear to be right through the middle of the stump.


The stump has to come out, Its only a little garden and I want to make the most of it, also I am having new fencing soon and it will be in the way



I will try BT this morning and dig carefully to expose more cable, see if I can work out where they go. If they were in my front garden I could understand them being there.


Thank you all for your replies.

Is there , or did there used to be , a shed or some sort of outhouse at the bottom of the garden ?

firefox1956

Post a picture of the cables ????

Nilrem

Joanthebone wrote: »

Thank you all, the cables have no markings but they look like several cables twisted together, and have no protection. They are about 2" across, I have not dug under so that's a guess. They are in the back garden. The previous owners of the flat had Sky, I don't. I am happy with Freeview. The previous owners were not gardeners either. The tree must have been there donkeys years as the cables appear to be right through the middle of the stump.


The stump has to come out, Its only a little garden and I want to make the most of it, also I am having new fencing soon and it will be in the way



I will try BT this morning and dig carefully to expose more cable, see if I can work out where they go. If they were in my front garden I could understand them being there.


Thank you all for your replies.

2 inches across sounds rather like mains power for the street, are there 3 or 4 of them in the bundle?
I think normally BT trunk bundles tend to be in a single 2-4 inch outer, rather than a twisting set.

I would possibly contact your local electricity distribution company as well as it could be something to do with them (if you've got a non contact mains detector/live wire detector it might be worth holding it near them and seeing it it starts beeping).

I would strongly recommend you stop digging near them until they're positively identified, as at best if they're still in use damaging them could upset telecomms customers, and at worst if they're mains distribution cabling of some kind it could be very dangerous.

Can you get a picture of them posted, with something near them to give an idea of scale? (IE a plastic ruler or something)

retepetsir

They could be 11kV HV cables, please do not dig these up as that can be dangerous!

If you're happy to do so, PM me your address and I can run a utility search for you in order to see what they might be.