AROUND 1,000 homes are still without power after major problem in an underground cable in the Romsey area.

Nearly 3,000 properties in the Whitenap, Crampmoor, Halterworth and North Baddesley were affected just before 4pm on Monday.

The automatic half-barriers at Crampmoor level crossing in Halterworth Lane was also a victim of the power cut and police closed the road to prevent motorists driving over the unmanned crossing. Train services were also suspended between Romsey and Chandler’s Ford.

Romsey Extra Parish Council’s vice chairman Christopher Wesson who lives near the level crossing said the barrier failed to come down in the fail safe position when the power supply was lost.

“The barriers were up. A lad from Mountbatten School who wanted to walk across the crossing was turned back by a woman police officer. As there were no trains running, I thought it was a little bit harsh, she could have used her discretion.” Nearby Crampmoor Garage was also affected.

A spokesperson for the garage, owned by the Meader family, said: “It had a serious impact on us and we lost trade because the police closed the road and stopped people driving down the road towards the garage - even though we are the A3090 side of the level crossing. We’ve been here for 37 years and they’ve never closed the road before when the barriers failed.”

Power was restored to the garage early on Tuesday.

Southern Electric engineers managed to restore supplies to around 2,000 customers in stages through Monday evening but the rest were still off at 11am on Tuesday. Mobile generators were brought in to provide emergency power cover for homes that lost their supplies.

However, one off the generators failed and another had to be brought in. One resident living on the Halterworth estate who did not want to be named said on Tuesday morning: “We were off for two hours on Sunday and then the power went off at about 3.45pm yesterday (Monday) and we are still off at 10.30am today (Tuesday). Power came back on for about 15 minutes earlier this morning then it went off again. What really annoyed me is that when you get through to Southern Electric, they don’t tell you anything useful.

“We’ve got a picnic stove so we can have a cup of tea but not everyone can.”

A Southern Electric spokesman said engineers were working on a fault within an underground cable in the North Baddesley area and it was hoped to restore all supplies by 1pm Tuesday.