Thousands of people in Cornwall were left in the dark on Wednesday evening due to a large-scale power outage.

The blackout was said to have affected homes and businesses in Bodmin, Wadebridge, Flushing, Falmouth, Truro, Helston, and Penzance. According to some reports, people saw a ‘bright flash’ and ‘fireballs’ coming from an electrical substation near Truro just after 5.30pm on Wednesday.

Many residents took to Facebook to share their experiences, with some users reporting brief blackouts, while others described flickering lights. The outage was also said to have affected Truro's city centre, causing several shops to be plunged into darkness during the late-night shopping rush.

The National Grid has today (Thursday) confirmed that the power loss stemmed from an incident at the substation between Truro and Shortlanesend. A spokesperson said: “Following maintenance work at a substation near Truro yesterday evening and after the network was restored to normal working, an incident occurred where a piece of plant failed, causing the bright flash that people reported.

“There was a dip in voltage and customers would have experienced the flickering of lights for a short period. We apologise for any disruption this caused.

“Repair work at the site has resumed this morning.”