MANY thousands of people across Bexley, Dartford and Orpington are still without power this morning following a fire yesterday which damaged four major high voltage electricity cables.

At the height of the incident nearly 100,000 people were without electricty.

EDF engineers have been working throughout the night to try and restore supplies.

The company says it is unlikely the repairs will be complete before tomorrow morning.

Its engineers have had some success in switching to alternative connections to provide electricity to about a third of those affected, and where possible generators are being deployed to key sites.

Other limited electricity supplies have also been established to enable customers to be given some power for at least part of today.

These will be rotated across the area to try and ensure as many people as possible get electricity for up to three hours at some point during the day.

But it has warned this will not be possible for everyone.

A spokeswoman said: "We aim to supply areas, including parts of Crayford, Bexleyheath and Erith in this way.

"Unfortunately, the alternative supply is not capable of providing sufficient power to all our customers at the same time.

"Nor will we be able to provide power to all affected areas this way."

The company said vandals may have been responsible for the fire which broke out on a cable bridge in Dartford at 12.47pm yesterday.

The bridge carries the cables across a waterway behind the Arriva bus garage in Central Road, Dartford.

EDF said the locks on the security gates at each end of the cable bridge appeared to have been broken open and the cables set alight.

Many shops and businesses across the area have been forced to close and traffic lights are also not working.

Emergency services and hospitals are continuing to work as normal and both Bexley and Dartford Councils say they are making sure vulnerable people are taken care of.

Kent and Bexley police say there will be additional police patrols in areas still without power tonight.

Primary care trusts in both areas say people feeling unwell should contact their doctor as ususal.

If their GP surgery is affected by the power cut, they should call NHS Direct on 0845 4647.

To get details of the rota connections and latest estimates for the restoration of supplies in your area, call EDF's emergency contact centre on 0800 028 0247.

The company spokeswoman said: "Our priority is restoring power to all our customers as quickly and as safely as possible and we continue to work on the full restoration of power supplies.

"However, this is a complex and difficult situation and it is unlikely this will be completed before tomorrow morning.

"We do appreciate people's patience and apologise to everyone affected."