Around 1,200 people were affected by a power blackout in Rochester.

A large part of the town centre was been plunged into darkness, forcing National Rail to halt train services for safety reasons.

UK Power Networks said a fault on an underground electricity cable was responsible.

It confirmed a total of 1,209 customers are affected.

Electricity supplies went off at 8pm and are not expected to return until at least 9.30pm.

However, residents in some areas reported the power came back on at 9.10pm.

Southeastern said train services were restored at 9.20pm.

A UK Power Networks spokesman said: "Our engineers are working hard to fix it as quickly as possible.

"We are sorry for any trouble this may have caused."