MORE THAN 600 homes and businesses in Winchester were plunged into darkness this afternoon.

Southern Electric customers reported a power cut in Jewry Street and Staple Gardens area.

Among the businesses affected were Brasserie Blanc, Prezzo and Loch Fyne restaurants which had to turn away customers.

A spokesman for Southern Electric said: “A fault occurred on our high voltage network just before 1.30pm this afternoon which has initially affected around six hundred customers.

“Engineers are currently investigating and working to fix this as soon as possible. We want to apologise to our customers.”