BURNLEY Council's new information centre was still shut today after a power cut forced it to close.

Contact Burnley, in Parker Lane, was closed yesterday, leaving hundreds of people in the lurch following the blackout.

Michael Frazer, the council's head of customer services, said the problem was caused by the power feed into the centre, which deals with about 1,000 phone calls and 120 visitors each day. He said: "We have some power to parts of the building but most of it is in the dark and there's no power to the cashiers' terminals, for instance.

"We have contacted the engineers and, although I can't say when the services will be restored, we are hoping it's going to be as soon as possible."

The centre, housed in the former Abbey building, is a one-stop shop for residents to access council services. It deals with queries including benefits and council tax as well as being home to the council's telephone switchboard.

Engineers managed to get the switchboard working by lunchtime yesterday but because of no air conditioning it had to be shut down again. However the switchboard was operating again this morning.