Engineers have restored power to 18,000 properties in Ashton since a power cut caused by multiple damages to our underground cables earlier this afternoon.

The power network believes that a third party organisation working in the area damaged multiple 33,000 volt underground power cable serving Ashton under Lyne and surrounding areas, cutting power to 22,000 properties.

Electricity North West incident manager, Chris Fox said: "We have 30 engineers on site and I'm pleased that we've been able to restore so many customers in just three hours considering the damage that has been done to the underground cables.

"With multiple cables damaged on our network, it will take some time to repair. In the meantime, we are switching customers to other parts of the network, and will restore the remaining customers via generators which are currently on the way to site.”

Electricity North West is proactively contacting customers on its priority service register who may need additional support, and is asking people to contact them if they know of anyone who is medically dependant on electricity.

Please take care while driving as traffic lights will be down in the area.

Updates are being posted on Twitter and Facebook for the latest information.