RESIDENTS in north west Swindon were hit with a power cut this morning. At 8am the electricity was cut to 5,000 homes and the worst affected area was Penhill.

But after engineers were called to sort out the problem the power was switched back on to all homes by 9.45am.

Southern Electric engineers got to the area by 8.30am to begin trying to restore the electricity.

The power cut was caused by a fault with an underground cable.

Great grandmother Barbara Meader, 71, had just made her morning cuppa when the power cut struck.

"The kettle had boiled, and I was just pouring the water into my cup when it went off," said Barbara, of Ramsbury Avenue, Penhill.

"We don't get many power cuts around here, but it was a bit of an inconvenience."

Julian Reeves, a spokesman for Southern Electric said: "Our engineers tried to resolve the electricity supply from the central control room but our attempts failed.

"The engineers had to go out there to investigate the problem."

He added: "Our first priority is always to get the electricity supply back on.

"It's like a road we are able to redirect some of the power to different circuits in the same way you would redirect traffic in a motorway traffic jam.

"Unfortunately we couldn't do this for the rest of the supply.

"We managed to get 4,000 homes back on within an hour and then had to continue working on the rest of the supply."

He said that there were a number of reasons to explain why a power cut happens.

Mr Reeves said: "The first reason is weather related.

"The second is damage by a third party, such as when somebody digging cuts through a wire.

"And the third is down to equipment failure.

"There are also small things, which can cause problems.

"A bird flying into the line can trip the circuit."

"The electricity network is open to all the elements."

Southern Electric engineers will be repairing the faulty cable over the next few days.

Work is not expected to disrupt any customers further.

Lyndsay Scanlan