atco-matic, I will try to make better use of smilies instead of standard punctuation - but not today. However, the point was about quality of infromation. Also, you are always welcome on my flight deck.
Thank you to those who have posted explanations here. There appears to have been a combination of plannned and unforseen circumstances coming together at the same time. The real fault lies in the lack of communication (ironic) to the airspace users prior to the event and subsequent to the additional problems. No one at our end had an informed picture of what on earth was happening. As ghost-rider implies, these things cost us money, but we have a very resillient system available to cope with them if we are kept in the loop - preferably in advance.
I don't want to get involved in the general discussion of NERC and its "new technology", as you guys seem to have done a pretty thorough job of it on this forum and in leaks to Private Eye. However, I could not help a wry smile at the info from Take3Call5 that this brand spanking new system required a phone upgrade!
The over-time, over-budget aspects of this system are already well publicised but it does not inspire confidence to hear that even strip outfall is suffering problems! Indeed, reading the ATCO posts on this forum, one could be forgiven for thinking that the whole project has been distinctly lacking in inspired leadership.
Bless you all for keeping our blips apart!