People are without power in Darwen this morning (March 11) due to an unplanned power cut.

According to Electricity North West (ENW), eight customers are set to be without power. This figure was initially estimated to be around 40 but has since dropped.

ENW estimates that power will be restored to customers at around 7.26pm but says this time could change.

People in the BB3 2HR postcode area are affected.

Issues were first reported at around 7.26am. After an investigation it was discovered that the power outage is caused by “an unexpected incident with the underground cable”.

A spokesperson for ENW said: “This power cut has been caused by an unexpected incident with the underground cable that provides electricity to your home or business. We didn't know before your electricity went off that this was going to happen but now we know, rest assured we will get your power back on safely and as quickly as possible.

“Please note that all our timescales are estimated based on previous experience and may change if new information becomes available while our engineers are fixing the issue.

“With underground power cuts, we may need to dig to repair the cable and this can sometime extend the length of time you are without power.”