A POWER cut left around 500 homes without electricity this morning.

Properties in Hurworth and Croft, near Darlington, had no power from 4am and Croft CE Primary School has also been forced to close for the day.

Electricity supplier Northern Powergrid said power had now been restored, and that the issue had been caused by a fault on an overhead line.

However, a spokesman said electricity supplies could be lost again during the day as engineers worked to repair the problem.

Brenda Higgins, headteacher at Croft CE Primary School, said she was disappointed the school had to close.

She said: "We arrived at 7.45am we had no power at all and couldn’t even get into school because we have an electric door entry system.

"The power has been on and off and it was a very hard decision to close.

"I feel very sorry for parents, but we have no guarantee of heating or power to heat lunches.

"It is very unfortunate, but everyone has been extremely understanding."

The problem comes after power cuts affected the Hurworth and Croft area over the weekend.

A spokesman for Northern Powergrid said: "We have an ongoing issue with a fault on an overhead line.

"The power is back on at the moment, but we are still working to identify where the problem is.

"We have engineers on the ground and we are looking into using a helicopter to check the lines for fallen trees or branches which might be causing the issue."