Electricity firm 24seven had to bring in generators after cold weather and bumper visitor numbers caused power surges along the east coast.

A huge overload on the power grid caused an electricity failure at one of Tendring's largest holiday parks.

Hundreds of visitors to the Orchards Holiday Park at Point Clear were without electricity or water on Good Friday.

But staff, residents, 24seven and Anglian Water rallied round to ensure the weekend was not a disaster.

Carl Castledine, general manager for the park, said it was the last possible situation it wanted or could have envisaged.

"It was the first big weekend of the season and we had a large number of visitors down," he said.

"But it was pretty cold on Friday and everyone switched on the electric to keep warm and it caused an overload and the supply went down."

Mr Castledine said that it also meant there was no water as the pumping station was also out of action.

"I cannot praise our suppliers enough," he said.

"24seven were true to their name and worked around the clock to get things up and running. Anglian Water brought in supplies to make sure no one was without water and we set up barbeques to provide hot food for those who needed it.

"There was a real Dunkirk spirit and everyone made the best of a bad situation."

Mr Castledine said 24seven brought in a huge generator from East London and the park survived on that plus the transformer for the rest of the weekend.

Mr Castledine said the company would be talking to its suppliers to upgrade its equipment for the future.

A spokesperson for 24seven said they had problems at 21 caravan sites on the east coast and she suggested parks contact them before the next bank holiday to upgrade their systems.

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