‘Wake-up call’: ministers launch urgent investigation into Heathrow shutdown

Government says lessons need to be learned after the substation fire that caused chaos for 300,000 passengers

The government has launched an urgent investigation into the power shutdown that crippled Heathrow airport, with experts warning it was a wake-up call" about vulnerabilities in the nation's critical infrastructure.

The energy secretary, Ed Miliband, has commissioned the independent National Energy System Operator (Neso) to investigate the incident and assess the UK's energy resilience. The regulator Ofgem warned it would not hesitate" to take action if there were any breaches of standards or licence obligations.