West End firms hit by power cut

The outage affected proceedings at the Royal Courts of Justice

Hundreds of West End businesses have suffered a power cut after an electricity substation was flooded.

Up to 1,300 customers in the Strand, Aldwych and Kingsway were affected by the outage which began late on Sunday, said energy supplier EDF.

It was caused by a burst water main that left the unit under 15ft of water, said an EDF spokeswoman.

She said power had since been restored to 800 customers and engineers were working to reconnect the remaining 500.

Engineers have been working with the fire brigade and water firm Thames Water to restore supplies.

Burst twice

Water was being pumped out of the unit in Holborn while work was carried out to re-route power supplies and to repair the damage.

"There has been significant damage to the electrical equipment, much which will have to be repaired or replaced," said the spokesman.

A Thames Water spokesman said a five-inch diameter water main burst beneath Great Queen Street.

He said the pipe burst again shortly after it was repaired at 1000 GMT.

"We have provided bottled water to the 30 properties that are currently without water and we hope to fix the pipe soon," he said.

"Our loss adjustors are currently assessing the damage that has been caused and we will liaise with EDF Energy over compensation claims."