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Stephen Pennell feeding one of the piglets by hand.

Nineteen four-day-old piglets could face a death sentence through lack of heating due to the power supply dispute. The piglets were born to two sows, Caroline and Sally, on the farm of Mr Roy Pennell at Deerpark Road, Burnley. Usually the piglets huddle under large heating lamps for warmth, but with power cuts yesterday, 7th December 1970, conditions in the hut where they are got colder and colder. Now the fate of the 19 piglets depends on the weather in the next few days. The weakest is being bottle-fed by Mr. Pennell's 15-year-old son, Stephen, and the rest are being kept warm with hay, heated by the family's fire.


This story appeared on the same page as an article about the electric power cuts which were the result of disagreements on electricity workers' pay claims. Fortunately most cuts were of reasonably short duration - usually just over two hours in any one district. The electricity board was doing its best to "spread the lack of load" to different areas but officials could not state when the power cuts would end.

The page also contained a note from the Burnley Express stating that the edition had been turned out in emergency conditions arising from the prolonged power cut and regretting any disruption to the normal Tuesday editorial and advertising services.