A ROAD in Littlemoor remains closed by Police following a power cut caused by an underground cable fault last night.

Around 30 residents in Littlemoor remained without electric until the early hours of this morning following the incident but 75 residents had their power cut temporarily to fix the problem, which took place just before 6pm yesterday evening.

The bottom part of Canberra Road was taped off while firefighters and staff from Southern Electric worked at a manhole cover.

It is believed that the supply was also turned off for Canberra Crescent while work was ongoing.

A spokesperson for Dorset Police said the road will remain shut and it is unknown when it will re-open.

Route two on First Dorset Buses is not serving Canberra Road today as the road remains closed.

Councillor for Littlemoor Mark Tewkesbury said he is concerned for the residents of Littlemoor this morning following the incident.

He added: "I am concerned that the road is still taped off and closed after visiting the area this morning.

"Not only was the power a problem for residents last night, but the road that remains closed is a major bus route that serves the estate.

"Residents may have their power restored but cannot get to their homes or work easily due to the road closure."

Lisa Marchi from Southern Electric said under 30 homes had been affected and that engineers were investigating the cause of the problem.

She added: "We received reports at 6pm that supply was off.

"The cause was an underground cable fault which affected around 30 homes in the Littlemoor area.

"Although only 30 homes were affected by the incident, at 7pm we had to shut electricity off to 75 residents in order to work on the fault.

"Power was returned to all residents at 3.40am and an investigation has been launched into the cause of the fault.

"We would like to apologise to all the customers affected by the fault."

A spokesman for Dorset Fire and Rescue added: "We were called to a manhole with BT and electric cables."

Resident Jan Hinton told the Echo: "It was quite dramatic and we didn't know what was going on other than that it involved an electric cable.

"There was heavy smoke in the area at one point and they later turned the power off in Canberra Crescent aswell while they worked on the scene."