THE electricity supply for 170 homes and businesses- which has been off all morning- should be restored by lunchtime.

Properties in the DL12 area, around Middleton-in-Teesdale, were affected by an unexpected power cut due to damaged cables or equipment from the early hours of this morning. 

Picture credit: Festoon House Ambiance Lights

Engineers expect to have it restored to the 170 premises affected in Middleton-in-Teesdale by about 12.30pm.

A spokesperson said: "Our team are working hard to restore your power as quickly as possible."

It is unclear whether the incident is related to planned repairs at a substation which left around 260 properties in nearby Eggleston without power for a few hours.