ALMOST 2,000 homes in Faringdon and its surrounding villages had their power cut off yesterday due to fallen power cables.

Energy provider SSE said about 1,700 homes were affected from 5pm to 9.30pm, with the other 200 not restored until about 1.37am this morning.

The firm blamed the problem on power cables which had fallen on the A420 near Littleworth, with the cause thought to be a fallen tree.

Police were called to the scene at about 6pm and closed the road in both directions while engineers worked to get the lights back on in residents’ homes.

SSE spokesman Paul O’Brien said areas affected included Faring, Buckland, Buckland Marsh, Carswell, Littleworth, Hatford and Baulking.

He added: “We are still looking into what brought the cable down. It is likely to have been a tree but that is not confirmed yet.

“We would like to apologise to customers who were affected and thank them for their patience.”