A MAJOR power cut left homes, shops and businesses in Southampton City Centre without electricity.

Areas affected included the Civic Centre, Above Bar and London Road areas.

Southern Electric were notified of the power cut at around 12.45pm with early reports indicating it was caused by damage to an underground cable.

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Spokeswoman for Southern Electric, Morven Smith said: "We had around 150 properties without power, however engineers have been able to re-route the power and restored supplies to the vast majority.

"There are ten properties in Above Bar Street and Civic Centre Road who are still without power at the moment, and the engineers are doing everything they can to restore power to them.

"Somebody has damaged one of our cables, and we have to repair that damage before we can restore the power. That is our priority.

"There will be a full investigation once we have restored power."