More than 1,800 Wigan homes and businesses hit by power cut

At least 1,800 addresses in Standish were affected by the outage on Monday morning. Locals reported their power turning on and off sporadically, resulting in house alarms ringing for miles around.

It was initially estimated that around 445 homes had lost power, but the updated figures from Electricity North West showed this to have been a very conservative estimate.

Power was originally expected to be out until after 1.30pm, but this was pushed back to 7pm. Some residents reported their electricity had been restored shortly after 3pm.

On its website, Electricity North West said: "We are sorry you are experiencing a power cut. We are currently investigating the issue. We estimate to have your power restored by 27/07/2020 19.00.

"The power cut in your area has been caused by an unexpected incident on our high voltage cables which provide electricity to your property."

Residents can track the issue live on the Electricity North West website here.