ENERGY company EDF say they will be offering “goodwill” payments to customers worst affected by last week’s three-day power cut.

Almost 100,000 people in Bexley, Dartford and Orpington were without electricity after a fire broke out on a cable bridge by the Riverside Industrial Estate in Dartford.

Those worst affected will be contacted by EDF in the next 10 days.

Police are still investigating the cause of the fire, which they say could have been started by vandals or thieves.

Residents were left to rely on candles and many shops were unable to open, costing businesses thousands of pounds in lost income.

An EDF spokeswoman said: “Whilst this incident was caused by malicious action and was not due to a failure of our network, it is our intention to offer a goodwill payment to those customers who have been worst affected, and we will be writing to our customers to set out the details in the next seven to 10 days.

“We are working on the details of this and discussing it with our regulator.”

Police say they are continuing to check with hospitals for anyone admitted with burns.

A spokeswoman for Kent police said: "Police continue to investigate the cause of the fire which caused the power cuts last week.

"On the week anniversary, house-to-house visits are being made.

"We continue to check hospitals for patients admitted with burns and are also looking at CCTV footage.

"We await the results of forensic tests on tolls found at the scene."

Anyone with any information should call Kent police on 01474 366091.