A POWER cut left homes and a popular restaurant in Harpenden without electricity for more than 26 hours last week — and then for a further four hours on Saturday night. More than 860 properties on the south side of the town lost power initially due to pro

A POWER cut left homes and a popular restaurant in Harpenden without electricity for more than 26 hours last week - and then for a further four hours on Saturday night.

More than 860 properties on the south side of the town lost power initially due to problems in an underground cable at about 4am last Thursday.

Most were reconnected by 5.30am but 35 homes in the Ayres End Lane area, including The Three Horseshoes restaurant in East Common, remained without power until just before 7am on Friday morning when generators were used to provide a temporary supply.

But the generator servicing 24 homes and The Three Horseshoes broke down on Saturday night between 7am and 11pm, and again during the early hours of Sunday morning.

That left the restaurant having to close on its busiest night of the week and manager Ian Constantine said the whole saga hade cost them about £3,000.

After Thursday's 26-hour power cut they were forced to throw a lot of their stock away and couldn't open at all due to health-and-safety restrictions.

Ian was hoping to make up the losses on Saturday night but when the restaurant was already half full, the power went off again.

A spokesperson for EDF Energy She said that the problem was initially difficult to pinpoint and required time-consuming patrolling of both the overhead and underground cables. Work to rectify the fault was due to be completed this week and the generators removed.