POWER cuts are still affecting Oxfordshire homes in the aftermath of Storm Ciara.

The traffic lights at Hinksey Hill Interchange in Oxford were also out due to a power cut in the area this morning but Oxfordshire County Council has now confirmed they are working again.

Beckley CE Primary School near Oxford, in the OX3 area, was unable to open today due to loss of power. 

SSEN energy company had a slew of Oxfordshire postcodes listed on its power map, which tracks ongoing power cut reports: OX29, OX7, OX9, OX5, OX14, OX44 and OX11.

There were 87 known postcodes affected in the OX10 area, which covers Wallingford and the surrounding villages but this has now been cleared.

There are 11 known postcodes affected by the OX29 fault in West Oxfordshire, with engineers aiming to have it fixed by 2am.

Traffic lights on Steventon Hill near Didcot were also not working this morning due to a power cut, and the council urged motorists to approach with caution.

Across the SSEN network, 80,000 homes were left without power due to the storm.

In a statement this afternoon, it said 1,500 customers remained off-supply at 1.30pm, with the majority of these properties in the north of SSEN’s region in Oxfordshire, Wiltshire and Berkshire. 

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It added although 'good progress' was being made, engineers were encountering issues due to road closures and fallen trees and the discovery of multiple incidents of network damage which 'require complex repair'. 

The statement added: "Ongoing weather conditions – with gusts in excess of 60mph - continue to result in a significant number of additional faults."

Stuart Hogarth, SSEN’s director of customer operations, said:“Our 800-strong team continues to make very good progress in restoring power to customers impacted by Storm Ciara, but access issues, complex repairs and continuing poor weather conditions are posing significant challenges for our engineers. 

“I would like to reassure customers that we are doing all we can to restore power as quickly and safely as we can.  We are prioritising restoration based on the length of interruption and are providing additional welfare in key areas across our region. 

"I would continue to encourage customers who may be in a vulnerable situation to contact us on the power cut helpline, 105."