ELDERLY people attempting to collect their pension were turned away from a Hampshire post office after a bird caused a blackout.

The bird flew into an overhead line and triggered a power cut affecting 240 properties in the Dibden and Marchwood area, some of which were without electricity for most of the day.

One of the hardest hit businesses was the post office and newsagents in Main Road, Dibden.

A spokesman said credit card machines and other electrical devices were rendered useless until power was restored after about eight hours.

She added: "We weren't able to do anything on the post office side and had to turn away people asking for their pension.

"A Southern Electric engineer said a bird flew into a power line and damaged one of the devices.

"The power cut affected our business big time. None of the machines worked and all the lights were off, which made it look as if we were closed.'' A Southern Electric spokesman confirmed that the power cut started at about 7am.

He added: "Something hit an overhead line and caused damage, which meant engineers had to physically go out there, locate the fault and effect repairs.

"The majority of people were back on by 9am and the other 100 customers had their power restored at 3.45pm."