THOUSANDS of people were without power and phone lines after a fiery explosion disabled an electricity substation on Monday.

An electrical fault in an underground cable caused flames 15 feet long to shoot from a door vent onto the pavement outside.

The explosion happened at the substation between Richmond Avenue and Richmond Crescent, Highams Park and caused 1,700 households and businesses to lose power.

Fire crews from Chingford and Woodford Green were called at 9.45am, but said they arrived shortly after to find the fire had burned out.

They cordoned off the area around the substation, which contains 11,000 volt cables - more than five times the voltage used by an electric chair.

Three engineers from EDF energy, who manage the substation, arrived at 10.45 to replace the damaged parts.

Chris Musk, of The Avenue, said he saw a jet of flame from his window after his power started to fail. "I thought it was a dodgy bulb at first. We tried another light - all the lights were flickering and there was an almighty explosion," he said.

He also said that several feet of grass in front of the substation had been dug up six weeks previously and some engineering work had been carried out.

After power was supplied intermittently between 9.45am and 11am, a thousand households had power restored, with service returning to normal for the rest shortly after midday.