When engineers were alerted to a power cut in the village of Arradoul, little did they know villager Mackenzie Fyvie was in the process of hatching 50 chicks.

Power supplies to homes and businesses in Arradoul were briefly interrupted while engineers from Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) carried out repairs to a damaged overhead power line nearby.

With Mackenzie relying on the electricity to keep his incubator running at such a crucial stage of the chicks' development, SSEN engineers wanted to get the power back on as soon as possible.

Sam Barnes and his colleagues Michael and Alan from SSEN's Elgin Depot heard of the chicks' need for electricity and put their heads together to hatch a plan to get power to the incubator.

Sam takes up the story:

"When I heard the chicks were at risk I knew we had to do something to help. After a few minutes looking at all the options, we came up with the idea of connecting Mackenzie's incubator directly to the specialist equipment inside our van. Thankfully our quick thinking paid off, and all of the 50 chicks survived."

Speaking after the power was restored to everyone in the village, Mackenzie Fyvie was very grateful for SSEN's help:

"A big thank you for the SSEN lads who kindly and promptly offered their services, providing electricity and heat to our new born chicks and incubating eggs while the power was off. Without this help, no doubt the chicks and incubating eggs would have suffered badly."

"They certainly went above and beyond for us that afternoon while they carried out their work to reconnect the area. A real big thank you to them from us."