Flames were seen shooting from the pavement during an underground explosion in Durham City this afternoon - which saw numerous emergency services at the scene.
Emergency services were called at about 12.30pm to an area of North Road, close to Framwelgate Bridge - following reports of an explosion.
Witnesses reported seeing flames coming from an underground explosion, which damaged part of the pavement.
Police attended and closed a small section of the street to shoppers while colleagues from County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue made the area safe.
The cause of the fire appears to have been an electrical issue and is being assessed by a team from NEDL.
Police and fire crews have now stood down and the cordon has been lifted.
No one was injured during the incident.
A County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service (CDDFRS) spokesperson said: “We were called at 12.34pm today (May 24) to reports of a small explosion under the pavement on North Road in Durham city centre.
“Crews from Durham Fire Station are currently at the scene and cordoned off the area until the gas and electric board arrive.”
During the incident, several shops near the police cordon were forced to close - with one person, who wished to remain anonymous saying that card machines in the businesses had gone down.
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They told The Northern Echo: "Some of my friends were in a restaurant and the power went off. They didn't have to pay because all the card machines went down."
Another shopper, Erica Robinson, was also caught up in the incident.
She said: “I had a few messages saying there were police on North Road after an explosion or a fire earlier, about lunchtime, but when I came through to get shopping it had mainly all cleared up.”
A spokesperson for Northern Powergrid said: "At 12:51 on Friday 24 May, we were alerted to an incident on the North Road area of Durham.
"Our engineers attended the area, and we can confirm that this was due to an underground cable fault, as a result of the recent heavy rainfall.
"We can confirm that there were no injuries as a result of the fault, and no customers are currently without power.
"We'd like to thank our customers for making us aware, and for their patience whilst we work in the area to safely repair the fault."
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