UK Power Networks says a power cut that briefly hit large swathes of homes and businesses in the Stanford-le-Hope and Linford areas this evening was caused by a faulty cable - possibly connected to heavy rain over recent days.

The outage happened around 9.30pm and power was down across a significant area before being switched back on in stages.

A statement from UK Power Networks said: "Our engineers worked as quickly and as safely as possible to restore electricity to several thousand properties in Stanford-le-Hope, which were affected by a power cut just after 21.27 this evening (Sunday).

"All customers were remotely restored in stages by 21:58. The cause was a fault on an underground cable. We realise how difficult it can be to be without power and apologise for any inconvenience caused."