TRADERS in Darlington town centre were yesterday planning to launch a claim for compensation after a fault with an electricity cable left them without power for seven hours.

Up to 60 shops and businesses on High Row, as well as some in Clark's Yard and Buxton's Yard, were affected by the cut. Some were left without power for several hours, when a fault developed in an underground cable.

After the supply was lost at about 7am, engineers restored power fully by 2.20pm.

Most businesses were able to carry on uninterrupted, but some experienced difficulties. No shops were forced to close.

High Row is a central part of Darlington's £6.5m Pedestrian Heart project, which has seen construction work carried out on substantial sections of the town centre.

Darlington Borough Council and power supplier NEDL ruled out the pedestrianisation work as a cause of the cable fault.

Some traders said they lost a significant amount of takings, and were preparing to lodge a compensation claim in an attempt to recoup some of their lost money.

An employee from Thomas the Baker, who did not want to be named, said the shop lost about £500 in takings over the course of the morning.

She said: "That is a lot of money to lose in just a few hours," she said. "Although we were able to stay open, because we had no electricity we weren't able to use our ovens.

"We have been told we might be able to get some of the lost money back, and I am sure our head office will be looking to do that."

A spokeswoman for NEDL said they were not liable for reimbursing businesses for any losses as the power fault was not a deliberate act or as a result of the company's negligence. She advised them to pursue claims through their own business insurers.

"It could have been a fault that has been undetected for quite some time. We could put it down to numerous different causes," she said. "But there is no evidence to suggest it was down to work on the Pedestrian Heart.

A spokeswoman for Darlington council confirmed it was not due to pedestrianisation work.