SHOPKEEPERS in Salisbury's Cross Keys Chequer are counting the cost of power failures which left them in the dark on two consecutive days at the start of the Christmas rush.

They were first hit at lunchtime on Thursday, November 23, along with nearly 1,000 other shops and businesses throughout the centre of Salisbury.

Businesses in Cross Keys had their power restored within 30 minutes - the remainder of the city centre was in the dark for about two hours.

But on Friday Cross Keys Chequer was hit by another power failure which went on for more than 13 hours. William Hills, owner of Cross Keys Bookshop, said Friday was a "disaster".

He said: "By mid-afternoon we decided to close and most other businesses did the same. We have lost a lot of money and I know neighbouring businesses have as well."

Thursday's blackout came as many shops were running their first discount day to coincide with the switching on of the city's Christmas lights and the first late-night shopping event.

In many shops staff were unable to serve customers because electronic cash tills and credit card machines were rendered useless.

A spokesman for Southern Electric said Thursday's failure was caused by a fault in the underground high voltage network serving a large part of the city centre.

He said: "The problem on Friday was unrelated and involved a cable under the pavement on the entrance to the chequer."