AROUND 600 homes in East Lancashire greeted the New Year in darkness after bad weather caused a series of power cuts.

50,000 houses across Lancashire, Cumbria and Scotland were affected but in East Lancashire the majority of problems were in Gisburn, Rossendale and Haslingden, with a few homes also out in Accrington.

Power was restored to the majority of houses yesterday, although 20 homes in Blackburn and Burnley were still without power today.

A spokesman for United Utilities said: "The problems started around 10pm on New Year's Eve.

"Teams had to go out to repair the overhead line network after ice on the lines brought them down and they worked all through the night.

"It has been a problem because of the conditions and the icy roads and some properties are very rural.

In Stacksteads, a number of properties were affected in the Farholme area but the power was back on last night.

Ward councillor Michael McShea said: "It appears they went off around midnight so they had a very strange welcome to the new year as it was all in darkness.

"It was also strange because on some streets not all the houses had lost power. The utilities company assured us they were doing everything they could to get it back on." One resident of David Street, who asked not to be named, said: "I have been poorly with flu all week so this was the last thing I needed.

"The power went off at 3am and it woke me up because the phone started beeping.

"It also woke me up when it came back on at 9.30pm because the lights went back on so I thought I may as well get up and at least see an hour of New Year's Day."

On Newchurch Road, the main road through Stacksteads, a number of businesses saw lights flicker but were not cut off.

Helen Toan, who has owned Sunny Fish and Chip Shop for 20 years, said there had been problems in the area during the summer but on this occasion the power did not go off.

She said: "One of my friends in David Street said their power was off but here it just flickered around 8pm."

Tahiran Uddin, manager of Bilash Tandoori Balti Takeaway, Newchurch Road, said: "The electricity in the living rooms upstairs went off but the business was not affected.

"Upstairs has not really affected us either because we don't use them."