MORE than 50 homes were without power on Tuesday night due to a fault in the underground network.

Dorset Fire Service was called to Durdells Gardens in Kinson around 7pm to reports of smoke issuing from a manhole.

Southern Electric was called by the fire service, and crews put up a cordon to allow engineers to work.

To repair the fault, engineers had to isolate more properties.

All 54 houses were back on by 2.30am.

A spokesperson for Southern Electric said: “We would like to offer our apologies to the people affected and thank them for their patience.

“We will obviously monitor the area for further faults in case there is something underlying.”