A FIRE in an industrial power cabinet led to an explosion and a power cut that lasted for hours on the hottest day of the year.

The emergency services were called to the electrical cabinet at the junction of Lomax Street and St Hubert’s Road in Great Harwood after residents reported a ‘loud bang’.

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Nobody was hurt in the incident, which happened at 6.25pm on Wednesday and saw the cabinet’s cast-iron doors blown around ‘ten to 15 metres away’, according to one councillor.

An investigation has been launched into the fire, thought to have been started after 200 households lost power until the early hours of the morning.

Lee Sherrington, 42, said: “I was told kids messed around with it, put something on it, and set it on fire.

“The bang was heard a couple of streets away, and the power was off until the early hours of the morning.

“It’s unusual. Kids play around there but nothing like this has happened before in Great Harwood.”

It was not immediately clear whether a CCTV camera installed just yards from the scene of the explosion captured the moment the substation was tampered with.

Local councillor Noordad Aziz, who lives close to the scene, said his home was not affected by the power cut but said others were.

“We heard a very loud bang. Somebody asked, ‘has a house just been knocked down?’,” he said.

“Given the heat and the damage, having seen how far the cast-iron doors were blown off, it’s just stupidity.

“If there had been a child in the vicinity, we could have had a fatality.

“I hope the perpetrators will be brought to justice.”

Fire crews from both Accrington and Great Harwood stations were called.

However, their investigation work could not begin until the box had been cut off from the grid.

A fire service spokesman said the electricity box was ‘deliberately set alight’.

He added: “Police were in attendance and firefighters set up a cordon around the box to keep the public back, pending the arrival of Electricity North West engineers to shut down the high-voltage supply.”

An Electricity North West spokesperson said: “The fire caused the loss of power to around 70 homes and engineers removed power to a further 130 properties to carry the work out safely.

“We repaired the fault and restored power at 1.25am .”