MORE than 600 homes have been plunged into darkness in a power outage in South Benfleet.

UK Power Networks (UKPN) has confirmed that 676 customers in the SS7 1, SS7 4, SS7 4, SS7 5 postcodes have been affected by an unplanned power outage this morning.

UKPN became aware of the outage at 7.14am this morning and has sent a team of engineers to investigate the issue.

A statement on the UKPN website said: “We're sorry for any disruption this may have caused you.

“As this was an unexpected power cut, we didn't know it was going to happen, so we were unable to give you advance notice.

“Our teams will do everything they can to get your power back quickly.

“Engineers in our control room have switched some customers power back on in your area.

“To get everyone’s power back on we may need to attend to investigate and make repairs.”

It is estimated that power will be restored between 9.30am and 10.30 this morning, August 6.

UKPN states that the power cut has happened due to an “underground electricity cable faulting” on its high voltage network, causing “an area wide power cut”.

To find out more on this outage, head to tinyurl.com/5ajdh2sn.