A POWER cut in Chalford left 897 homes without fans on the hottest day of the year so far.

As temperatures climbed to a high of 32°C yesterday afternoon freezers began to defrost and fridges warmed up in the heat.

A shared office at Hallidays Mill opposite the Lavender Bakehouse & Coffee Shop had to close for the afternoon due to the power cut, sending businessmen and women home early.

Electricity was restored to all homes by network operator Western Power Distribution in the early hours of this morning.

A spokesman for WPD said: "Power was restored in stages throughout the afternoon and evening with the majority of customers having power by 11.37pm.

"The final eight properties had power restored via a generator at 12.19am."

The blackout had been caused because of a fault on an underground cable.