POWER firm bosses have apologised after more than 50 Colchester homes were left without electricity for 11 hours.

EDF Energy reassured customers it had put right a fault with an overhead cable which saw supplies cut off twice in the Blackheath area of the town, on Friday and Saturday.

Colchester councillor for Berechurch, Dave Harris, has lodged a formal complaint as he said the failure could have caused health problems for elderly residents who were deprived of their central heating in the chilly weather.

Power was first interrupted between 2.35am and 8.20am on Friday, when 26 homes in the area were affected.

Then, at 5.06am on Sunday, the supply to 52 properties went down.

Engineers cut off a further 26 homes at 1.55pm to allow them to work safely on the problem, and power was restored to all concerned by 4.05pm.