Hundreds of people in Twickenham were left without power last night after a faulty fuse caught fire in an electric substation.

No one was hurt by the fire in Radnor Road but it has been confirmed that at least 226 people were affected by the incident, with some still without power today.

A UK Power Networks spokesman said: “The cause of the interruption was traced to a fault on a piece of equipment at our substation which has now been permanently replaced to maintain reliable power supplies for our customers.”

The spokesman did not confirm the reason for the fault, but said it was not due to the equipment being old or incorrectly installed.

Fire crews, who came from Sutton, Kingston and Twickenham, had to wait for UK Power Networks, which is in charge of the power supply, before tackling the fire to avoid any risk of electrocution.

The fire brigade was called at 7.55pm, with the fire under control by 9.30pm.

A firefighter from Twickenham station, who attended the incident, said: “The building was 95 per cent empty, just with this substation in it.

“There was a lot of smoke and you could see the residents were fairly worried looking out.”

The UK Power Networks spokesman added: “For safety reasons, our engineers had to isolate power supplies to 226 customers at 10.26pm last night so repair work could take place. This work is still ongoing.

“We appreciate how frustrating it is to be without power and we would like to apologise to affected customers for the inconvenience caused.”