Homes and shops struck by major electricity outage

HUNDREDS of homes were left without electricity and shops forced to evacuate as a power cut hit Burscough.

Shops on the Ringtail Retail Park were among those affected by the outage, which struck at around 3.45pm on Monday.

Inability to use the tills meant that shoppers inside stores including Aldi and Booths were forced to temporarily close, though Peacocks and Pets at Homes did remain open.

A total of 212 properties were also left without power and it took around two hours until engineers could begin to restore access for some. Electricity was fully restored at around 10pm.

A spokesman for Electricity North West blamed the outage on damage caused to the network by a third party, adding: “The power cut in your area has been caused by an unexpected incident on our high voltage cables which provide electricity to your property.”