SCOTTISH and Southern Energy have apologised for a powercut which affected more than 19,000 homes across Hillingdon.

Homes and shops were left without power from 6.35pm on Sunday (2) until 8.30pm.

Areas around the whole borough were affected, including Ickenham, Hillingdon, Uxbridge and Hayes, all the way down to properties near Heathrow Airport.

Cinema goers reported that Uxbridge's Imax cinema screen even lost power mid-film as a result of the blackout.

A SSE spokesperson said: "We would like to apologise to all those affected.

"There was a fault on our high voltage network, and one of our safety trips was activated. We were able to re-route supplies and it is curring through our low voltage network at the moment.

"Engineers are on site today (5) and will be up until the 14th working to fix the problem, there is a lot of work that needs to be done and the power is running with the back up supply of generators.

"There will be no affect on peoples supply in their homes.

"It was certainly our biggest blackout this year."

How were you affected? E-mail editorialuxbridge@trinitysouth.co.uk