HOMES and businesses have been left without power after a fire involving an underground electrical box.

Fire crews were called to Broad Street, Bromyard shortly before 7.30am this morning to reports of a fire, outside the Falcon Hotel.

A Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service crew from Bromyard attended the scene, and a spokesperson said the road was closed, but is now open.

According to Western Power Distribution, 165 properties are without power in the area.

A spokesperson said: "We had engineers on site within five minutes, we've made it safe and now we've got to dig down.

"Then we'll be able to start restoring customers, which will be in two stages. The first should be within three hours and the second within six hours.

"We apologise for any inconvenience caused."

But they added that as the extent of the damage is still unknown, the times are only an estimate.