Storm Darragh causes power cut at pub near Andover

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Punters ‘partied in the candlelight’ at a pub near Andover that was left with no power after Storm Darragh damaged an electricity cable on Saturday.

The Hare & Hounds in Charlton Down was without a mains supply from 6.30am until it was restored by an engineer around 16 hours later.

The pub shared a message on Facebook to tell customers that Storm Darragh's winds – which reached 60mph – had torn a power line down on nearby Hungerford Lane.

Police closed the road while the cable was repaired.

Staff were forced to cancel their evening service but worked hard to make the best of the situation to accommodate the pre-booked private function.

Landlady Charlotte Huxter said: “I got a text message at 7am saying a power cut had been logged, and then I got a call from my staff at around 9.30am.

“The lights went off at 6.33am – that's when my cameras stopped recording.”

The organisers of the private function had requested a buffet of hot and cold food, which was changed with their agreement so the event could go ahead.

The pub has now fully re-opened (Image: Hare & Hounds) “They partied in the candlelight,” said Charlotte, who has run the pub since January after previously being its general manager.

“They had a great time. The team that worked yesterday were really good. They covered the whole pub in candles.

The storm caused chaos over the weekendThe storm caused chaos over the weekend (Image: Charlotte Huxter)

“We did end up losing all of our evening service. We're back open now, but we don't have any internet. We don't know how long that will take to fix.

“We lost some customers today because we had to advertise that we had no power last night.”

Around 200,000 customers remained without power as of 9am on Sunday after Storm Darragh, the Energy Networks Association said.

The Hare & Hounds is currently offering its festive menu, featuring a turkey or pork roast dinner, pan-seared sea bass, a Christmas burger and a vegan roast.

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