Pavement explosions sparked by faulty underground cables or link boxes could have "serious consequences" as figures showed dozens of such incidents in London in recent years.

That's the warning by Labour London Assembly Member Dr Onkar Sahota AM after it emerged there had been nearly 80 cases of exploding surfaces in five years.

Eighteen of those explosions have reportedly taken place in postcodes in and around Ealing and Hillingdon.

Dr Onkar Sahota said UK Power Networks, the company responsible for running and maintaining the power cables in London and the South East, must do more to ensure that old and unsafe cabling and equipment is replaced before it becomes dangerous.

According to London Assembly Labour, figures from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) reveal that between February 2010 and February 2015 there were 199 incidents where link boxes or cable pits failed - the prime cause of most pavement explosions.

Of these incidents, 77 were deemed to be ‘disruptive’ which is described by the HSE as “involving fire, explosion and/or the involvement of the fire service.”

This is the equivalent of more than one disruptive incident every month over the five year period.

They state that around half of the incidents occurred last year, with more than 40 ‘disruptive’ incidents reported in 2014 alone.

London Assembly Labour claim the explosions are generally caused by electrical faults with underground electrical equipment due to poor maintenance of the network.

Dr Onkar Sahota, Labour Assembly Member for Ealing & Hillingdon said UK Power Networks and South Eastern Power should be “doing everything possible to crack down” on dangerous equipment failures.

He said: “Thankfully pavement explosions are relatively rare but when they do occur the consequences can be very serious.

“With more than 40 explosions last year and two in the Ealing and Hillingdon area alone, it’s time UK Power Networks did everything possible to crack down on this potentially life threatening problem.

“This is a company which made almost two hundred million pounds profit last year. It shouldn't be too much to ask for them to invest a little of that in overhauling their ageing electricity supply network and stepping up inspections.”

A UK Power Networks spokesperson, who say they do not cover Ealing or Hillingdon, said: “This is a global issue, and UK Power Networks is recognised as one of the industry leaders in tackling it.

“We have more than 100,000 cable pits and junction boxes and 36,000km of cable across the capital, delivering the most reliable power supply in the UK.

“Although such incidents are extremely rare we do everything in our power to mitigate the risk, as public safety is always our number one priority.

“We have worked tirelessly since taking on the responsibility of London’s electricity network 5 years ago to maintain, replace and invest in our equipment, this includes carrying out more than 40,000 underground inspections.

“Moving forward we are looking to spend around £1.5 billion over the next seven years to ensure that London’s electricity network continues to be the UK’s most reliable.”