At 3.40pm this afternoon a 33,000 volt underground power cable serving Ashton under Lyne was damaged by a third party organisation working in the area, causing a power cut to more than 20,000 properties.

Engineers from Electricity North West have restored power to more than 11,000 properties with engineers working on site to restore power to the remaining 9,000 properties.

Electricity North West is proactively contacting customers on its priority service register who may need additional support.

Please be aware that traffic lights and Metrolink services will also be affected and work is ongoing to restore power to the whole area.

Generators are also being sent to the area to restore power more quickly.

Updates are being posted on Twitter and Facebook for the latest information.