MORE than 1,500 homes were left without electricity in West Oxfordshire for up to seven hours due to a power cut.

The power cut, at about 10.30pm on Monday, which affected parts of Witney, New Yatt and North Leigh, was caused by a fault in an underground cable.

Power was restored to all the homes by 5.30am on Tuesday.

Southern Electric spokesman Neil Anderson said: “Our engineers worked through the night to fix the fault. The cause is under investigation.”

It is thought the power cut affected West Oxfordshire District Council’s card payments system, which yesterday suffered from “technical issues”.

The council said it hoped the system would be up and running again by today – call 01993 861000 if you need information.