Similar in that it was external as you might have guessed, turned out it was a faulty microwave 2 doors up, and throughout the street the old wooden box buried DNO joints had corroded along with the earthing of the SWA, when i earth rodded the house i was in i effectively gave a better return path to the house up the street than its corroded supply cable acheived. Was a real head scratcher to solve as plumber complained he had shocks but whenever we tested the microwave wasnt on, we withdrew DNO fuse and let the plumber continue and you guessed it ZAPPP!, i suggested to clark of works what it was to which he said he'd been doing his job 35yrs and never heard of anything like that and said i was clutching at straws... i said so just cos you haven't heard of this issue your willing to cast it aside and have a installation with a potentially lethal senerio, i said il contact the DNO then and get them out. They confirmed everything i said although my guess was an electric cooker they confirmed it to be a microwave and id created an alternative earth path.... and like your set-up Tony -- all street powered down, road dug and all houses new supply cable, and me 2 earth rods back that had be billed. Although it didnt make up for the time lost on fault.
