Capital cut blacks out BBC

The transmitter can be seen from across south London

BBC viewers across the London area saw their screens go blank on Tuesday night after a power cut at a transmitter.

The Crystal Palace transmitter failed just after 2130 GMT, blacking out BBC One and Two programmes to around nine million people.

While BBC One was back on screens under 20 minutes later, BBC Two remained down until 2300.

An apology was broadcast to viewers watching BBC One, as engineers made their way to the transmitter.

Crown Castle, which owns the transmitters, said a full investigation was being carried out into the problem, caused by "a serious fault to the electricity supply".

The blackout affected the area from Saffron Walden, Essex to Sevenoaks in Kent, including most parts of London.

Digital services were not affected.

In January 2002 a technical failure knocked out the same transmitter for eight minutes as BBC One was showing a tense FA Cup tie between Arsenal and Liverpool.