Damaged substation leaves 2,500 homes without power

Electricity North West said 2,500 properties are affected in Padiham

Thousands of homes in east Lancashire have been hit by a power cut after a substation fault.

Electricity North West said 2,500 properties were still affected in the BB12 area of Padiham.

The fault, which affected 5,000 properties, was reported at 09:40 BST and engineers were on the scene along with Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service.

The company said it had ordered generators but expected work to continue until 22:00.

'Major incident'

A statement on the firm's website said: "This power cut has been caused by an unexpected incident on the high voltage cable that provides electricity to your home or business.

"The reason for this power cut is a major incident which has caused widespread damage to our substation.

"We are sorry for any inconvenience caused; we understand being without power is difficult."

The majority of customers were restored just before midday, an Electricity North West spokeswoman added.

"However, shortly after, another fault was discovered and supplies were remotely switched off whilst the local fire service attended for safety reasons."

Power has been restored to 4,000 properties, she said, and teams were working to restore supplies as "quickly and as safely as possible".