ALMOST 2,000 homes and businesses in the Alton area were plunged into darkness on Wednesday when contractors, working for Westbury Homes on the former Lord Mayor Treloar Hospital site in Chawton Park Road, inadvertently cut through an 11,000 volt cable.
While nobody was injured in the incident, it resulted in a major power failure which Southern Electric were called upon to rectify.
The incident happened at 322 pm and the hope was that full power would be restored by 6 pm. A spokesman for Southern Electric said that plans of underground cable routes were normally provided to developers on request and it was not yet known how or why the incident occurred.
Those affected by the resulting power cuts included Alton Community Hospital and Alton Sports Centre.