TRADERS were left counting the cost last night after contractors cut through a power cable, wrecking Christmas shopping trips across the region.

About 20,000 people were affected by the power failure yesterday afternoon, caused when contractors accidentally sliced through a 132,000 volt underground cable.

Parts of Northallerton, Richmond, Darlington, Stockton and Yarm were cut off.

Darlington was the worst hit because the cable was damaged by the unnamed contractors in the town's Haughton Road. The power went off at 12.15pm, and some customers were not reconnected until 4.50pm.

Business leaders said the power cut had dealt a "body blow" to Christmas trading in the town.

Almost every shop and business in the town centre lost power, and although many tried to stay open by using candlelight, many more had to admit defeat and close.

Christmas shoppers were forced to leave the stores, and although some waited for a while, hoping for the power to come back on, many decided to go home.

The town centre car parks, normally full at this time of year, were emptying rapidly by 2pm.

The cost to businesses in Darlington is expected to run into hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Albion Small, president of the Darlington Chamber of Trade and manager of the Cornmill Shopping Centre, said the power cut could not have come at a worse time. "We were expecting 25,000 people to come into the centre, but would have been lucky to get 10,000," he said.

"It has had a phenomenal affect on trade and the concern is that people may have gone to other towns, like Middlesbrough, and may well not return to shop in Darlington again."

Pat McDonogh, manager of Woolworths in Darlington, said the store did not have its power restored until 3.15pm. "It happened during the busiest time of the day and had an obvious effect on the store," he said.

Schools were also affected - at least half a dozen, including Hurworth Comprehensive, Dodmire Junior and Infants and Eastbourne Nursery, were forced to close for the afternoon.

The emergency services were kept busy, with the fire brigade being called out after the cut caused automatic power alarms to go off. Firefighters also had to rescue people trapped in a lift at Bhs.

Another casualty was the Darlington Sports Winners Award ceremony, which had to be cancelled because the venue, Orange in Lingfield Way, had not had its power restored in time.

Darlington Town Hall was one of the last to get power back.

A spokesman for Northern Electric said it would be taking up the matter with the contractor which caused the failure. It was likely that the firm would have to pay compensation.

"The power cut mostly affected the Darlington area and our engineers were on site as soon as possible to try to restore supplies," he said