ACCRINGTON residents were without electricity at breakfast time this morning, after an electrical fire broke out at a pensioner's flat.

Around 200 houses in the Wellington Court area were affected, because the local supply had to be isolated by emergency services between 6am and 7.30am.

In addition to Wellington Court, nearby terraced homes at Nelson Street, Napier Street and Cotton Street were also without power.

The fire began at 4.25am, destroying an outside electricity meter box at the home of 64-year-old pensioner Bernard Shaw at Wellington Court.

"I woke up and heard a loud sizzling sound," he said. "I could see sparks and flashing outside and this went on for about five minutes.

"Then the box blew up. There was a bang, an eruption, and all sorts. Then there was a power cut."

Mr Shaw used a residents' telephone helpline, called ElderCare, to call for assistance.

The telephone system was unaffected by the fire, as it had a back-up power supply, he said.

Firefighters arrived within minutes and extinguished the blaze.

Accrington fire station officer Chris Hollis said one of the cables had become live and was unsafe because of the metal covering.

Electricians from power firm United Utilities also arrived at the scene and were working there today, along with staff from Hyndburn Homes.

Mr Shaw said he was optimistic the power would be back on later today. Neighbours had helped him, by storing his food in their fridges. Mr Shaw has lived in Accrington all his life and used to work at Oswaldtwistle's Stanhill Mill. He lives alone, but has family at Church.

Neighbour Jack Barnes was affected by the power cut and added: "I heard a bit of a bang early this morning.

"Then I got up about 6.30am, to make some breakfast, but all the lights went out.

"Luckily I have storage heating, so the house stayed warm." A United Utilities emergency helpline worker said: "We had a fault there and had to remove the supply for safety reasons. Staff were there from 7am."