HUNDREDS of people were left in the dark on Thursday night after a power cut in Bournemouth.

A total of 1700 homes and businesses were left without electricity in the Boscombe area of Bournemouth just before 7pm on Thursday.

SSE engineers investigating the problem said there was a fault on the main network.

They apologised for the inconvenience.

Some homes had power restored by 8.30pm although the fault was not completely fixed until nearly 11pm.

The Urban Reef restaurant had 120 customers arriving for a meal and quiz when the power cut started but they were among those who had electricity restored before 8pm.

Traffic lights along Owls Road at the junctions with Sea Road and St John's Road were also out.