Power has been restored at a Hampshire hospital after a major incident was declared earlier today. 

Phone lines and IT services went down at QA Hospital in Cosham this morning after a power outage led to the closure of its Accident and Emergency department. 

Just after 7am, the hospital said it suffered a "serious loss of power" and would close A&E to any new attendees. 

Patients were warned that calls to or from the hospital were not possible and that some cancellations may take place as a result. 

READ MORE: Hospital reopens emergency department to new admissions after power restored

But in an update just after 11am today, a spokesperson said: "Following a serious power outage earlier this morning, we have been able to restore power to most of the QA Hospital site and re-opened our Emergency Department.

"Due to this we have made the decision to step down from Major Incident to an Internal Critical Incident. Work to identify and investigate the cause behind this morning’s outage continues.

"Many of our IT systems are now back up and running, so if you have an outpatient’s appointment, please continue to attend as usual unless you have heard from us directly.

"We have had to cancel a small number of procedures this morning, but our teams are working hard to safely continue carrying as many of these out as possible.

"We expect to see some delays as services are coming back online so ask for your patience and understanding while our teams work to do this.

"Our phone lines are still having some issues and the card readers in our car parks are not working, so we have suspended payment for today (Monday 5 August).

"Visitors are welcome to attend the hospital as normal."