HUNDREDS of residents in the Meon Valley were without electricity last night.

Just after 6.30pm there was a power outage that affected around 1,200 homes across West Meon, Cheriton, Bramdean and Beauworth.

A spokesman for the supplier, SSE, said that within an hour power was restored to all but 80 homes in West Meon, although some residents in Cheriton said they were without electricity for two hours.

By 5am this morning (April 1) power had been restored to those houses using a generator, which remains in place.

The spokesman said a faulty underground cable had caused the power cut, but engineers are still trying to establish what caused the fault.