Storms cut power to 50,000 homes

Thousands of people in Leicestershire were left without power after heavy rain and storms cut supplies on Wednesday morning.

Engineers from Central Networks worked to restore electricity to over 50,000 homes and businesses after half- an-inch of water fell in just one hour.

The villages of Oadby, Ashby Magna, Enderby, Glen Parva and the Wigston area were all affected.

Central Networks said power was restored to most areas by the evening.

Central Networks spokeswoman Rebecca Middleton said: "Lightning struck all over the county - and engineers worked hard to restore power as quickly as possible."

The heavy downpours caused further problems across the county with fire crews being called out to houses hit by lightning, and Market Harborough High Street was flooded.

Leicestershire Police have asked residents not to call them regarding the power cuts as they are not dealing with the outage.