THE lights went off at Swindon College after its electricity system overloaded, shutting down power for 45 minutes.

The college's Regent Circus site called in workers from the South West Electricity Board after the power went off at noon on Wednesday.

Principal Mike Hopkins confirmed the power cut had taken place but added there had been little disruption to students.

A spokesman for SWEB explained that little disruption was caused to students as the emergency back up lighting functioned without a problem and staff were trained to deal with the situation.