THOUSANDS of homes in a North Yorkshire town were hit by a power cut yesterday.

The fault led to 2,385 properties in Thirsk being left without electricity at about 7.15am, although Northern Powergrid said supplies were restored to 1,882 of the properties within a matter of minutes.

Power was also returned to most of the remaining homes and businesses by 8am, with the last 207 properties left without power being reconnected by 9.45am.

A spokeswoman for Northern Powergrid said the problem was linked to an underground cable but the exact cause of the fault was not yet known.