A FAULTY underground cable is thought to have caused the massive power cut in Southampton this morning.

More than 1000 properties were affected in Banister Park, Bargate, Bedford Place, the Polygon and the inner city centre.

Engineers restored electricity by about 11am after it went down at 8.20am.

Business, organisations and institutions - including the city's busy magistrates' court - also lost power.

Scottish and Southern Energy spokeswoman Sam O'Connor said: "We managed to restore all our customers by re-routing their supply from another source.

"We believe it was because of a fault in an underground cable. Our engineers are now going through the network to find where it lies. We apologise for any inconvenience."