Almost 60 homes in Eldwick were left without power today after heavy rain caused an electrical explosion.

A crew from Bingley fire station was called to Eldwick Lane shortly after 2am following reports that residents had heard an explosion, followed by a loss of power.

Firefighters found that lids covering the access to underground power cables had blown off and smoke was rising from the ground.

They made the scene safe until Northern Power Grid engineers arrived to work on restoring power to the 57 houses affected.

It is thought that rainwater coming into contact with power cables had caused the incident.

Northern Power Grid said it expected to restore electricity by 10.30am.

A spokesman for the group said: “One of the difficulties was moving cars from the road, since most people were asleep at the time.”