box blight?

Are these bare patches a sign of box blight? This has occurred in several places along the hedge. Last year I got someone to prune the hedge. They used an electric hedge trimmer. In years past I have pruned the hedge with secateurs, which takes the better part of a day so I thought I would save myself some time. Could the trimmer have caused this problem? It's such a shame because I've had no problems at all with the hedge before and I've had it for years.

 

It’s hard to see any detail in the photos but it could be caterpillar damage. Have you seen or is there any remnants of webbing?

Using a hedge cutter in itself shouldn’t cause any issues. Not sterilising/ cleaning between sites will risk transferring disease such as box blight.

I use a small hand-held battery hedge trimmer, quite light and very easy to use/control. I couldn’t manage doing it all using secateurs or shears.

 

No remnants of webbing that I can see. Your thoughts echo my own, that disease might have been transferred. I think I will copy your example and invest in a battery hedge trimmer. Thank you for your advice.