13 large generators, which came from as far as Newcastle and the West Midlands, have been powering 2,600 homes and businesses since three 33,000-volt underground power cables were damaged by another company on Tuesday.

Teams for the region’s power network operator have worked tirelessly, including through the night, to restore power to all the original 22,000 properties impacted by the power cut and have removed the generators ahead of schedule today.

Electricity North West incident manager, Paul Bircham, said: “We’d like to thank customers and local businesses for all their patience and support during what has been a challenging few days.

“All customers in Ashton are now receiving power from the main grid once more, providing them with a normal, robust supply.

“Our engineers will still be working in the area carrying out further repairs to the damaged cables, but this essential work will not impact power supplies.

“I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank all our engineers who have worked tirelessly since Tuesday, they’ve done an incredible job to repair the damage to the network for people in Ashton.”

Since Tuesday Electricity North West contacted almost 2,000 customers on its Priority Service Register to offer extra help to those who need it and provided 300 hot meals and drinks to customers without power in Ashton.

Photos showing engineers working in substations switching customers from generators to normal power supplies: