Villagers were left without electricity for several hours after an overhead power line was damaged.

Whitebread Lane, in Newenden, near Tenterden, was shut in both directions while engineers from UK Power Networks looked into and repaired the fault.

It reopened at about 7.30am today (Saturday).

There are unconfirmed reports the power line was damaged after being hit by a car.

An update posted on the energy company’s website said: “We are investigating an overhead electricity line that has been damaged in the local area.

“Engineers are now on site, carrying out investigations into the fault. Once they have completed their assessment, they will carry out repairs.

“We are sorry for any disruption this may have caused you. We did not know in advance there would be a power cut but now that we know, our teams will do everything they can to get your power back quickly.”

The outage was reported to UK Power Networks at around 1.20pm and it is understood around 40 residents were affected.

In the latest update from UK Power Networks, the power was expected to be back on by 2am (November 16).

There was also slow traffic in the area due to the fallen cables between between Hastings Road and Station Road.