MORE THAN 200 homes near the Billericay area are currently without electricity due to an “unexpected power cut”.

The UK Power Networks (UKPN) website has confirmed that 216 properties have been affected in an unplanned outage, today, August 28.

The outage is currently affecting homes in the CM12 0 and CM12 9 postcodes.

UKPN first became aware of the outage at 6.51am and they have dispatched a team of engineers to investigate and resolve whatever the issue is that has caused the outage.

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.

“We have engineers on their way.

“Rest assured once they arrive, they’ll work as quickly as is safely possible to get your power back on.”

The engineers believe the outage has been caused by an overhead cable fault that “initially interrupted power to 2,123 properties.”

However, UKPN has managed to divert power back to some properties, so only the 216 homes are still affected.

It is hoped that power will be restored between 9.30am to 10.30am but this could change.

To keep up to date with the outage, visit ukpowernetworks.co.uk/power-cut/incident?incidentid=INCD-462011-Z,

Update

An update on the UKPN website now says that power has been restored.