HOMES across the Frinton, Walton and Kirby area were hit by a power cut last night - as the nation's political leaders were in full flow in their televised debate.

Residents said they was what they described as a "power surge" that cut their electricity, plunging homes into darkness and switching off their televisions.

They added power had been restored almost immediately, but Sky boxes and games consoles had to be rebooted to get them working again.

But the power cut was sufficient to set of burglar alarms, with residents reporting alarms going off at the Triangle shopping centre and the Tendring Technology College campus, both in Frinton.

Residents reported the power cut in Frinton, Walton town centre, the Naze end of Walton, Kirby Cross and Kirby le Soken, as well as in Holland-on-Sea, parts of Clacton and Jaywick.

A spokeman for UK Power Networks apologised to customers following the power cut.

“Following a fault on a piece of underground equipment, 320 customers in the Frinton and Walton would have seen an interruption to their electricity supplies at around 9.30pm on Thursday.

“UK Power Networks engineers worked as quickly and as safely as possible restoring power to all our customers at around 11.50pm.

“We would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused.”