THOUSANDS of homes have been left without power after the Didcot power station demolition.

The three cooling towers were brought to the ground at the Oxfordshire town at 7am – with 49,000 homes and traffic lights losing power shortly afterwards.

However, Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSE) insisted the fault "wasn't linked to the demolition".

Instead, the Oxford Mail has reported a drone may have hit power lines, causing a fire.

SSE confirmed a fault had affected thousands in the area, saying: "Our engineers are on site working hard to get the power back on as quickly as they can."

Footage from the scene has shown power lines on fire.

Restoration is expected about 9am.

Locals had gathered to watch as the last three cooling towers at the Didcot A plant were brought down this morning.

Plumes of smoke and dust were sent billowing into the air after the "controlled" explosion.

The 375ft (114.3m) high towers, had previously been voted Britain's third worst eyesore, have previously divided public opinion.

It comes after parts of the UK were hit with a power outage last week following a problem with National Grid.

Two generators failed on August 9 – the first major outage since 500,000 lost power in London in 2003.

Energy watchdog Ofgem has since called for an "urgent detailed report" to investigate.

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