DARWEN town centre was plunged into darkness after a power cut left almost 1,000 homes without power.

Electricity North West said an underground cable fault caused the power cut, which affected 970 homes in the town last night.

Engineers were called to the scene when power was lost at 7.30pm and, within an hour, the number of homes affected was down to 350, the electricity firm said.

And by 8.50pm, power to all the homes had been restored.