HOMES near the centre of a North-East town were hit by a power cut yesterday afternoon after an electrical fault caused an underground explosion.
Police closed Princes Street, in Bishop Auckland, County Durham, for 90 minutes after flames and smoke were seen coming through the pavement.
Firefighters stood by as emergency crews from electricity company NEDL isolated the fire, which burned itself out,
The company said about 120 customers lost power from mid-afternoon. A spokesman said: "Somehow water got into an underground link box and caused it to fail, setting off an explosion."
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