A faulty junction box started smoking caused a seven-hour power cut in Ilford on Sunday morning.

Firefighters were called when the box, in Auckland Road, was seen smoking shortly before 10am.

It interrupted electricity supplies at about 30 homes before engineers cut off power to another 64 houses while they carried out repairs.

A UK Power Networks spokesman said: “Staff worked as quickly as possible to reconnect all power supplies, with the majority back on by 3.11pm and the final five properties reconnected at 5pm.

“We understand how difficult it is being without electricity and apologise to customers for any inconvenience this caused.”