Vandals left thousands of people without power after damaging highly-dangerous electricity cables.

The yobs, who have been warned they are risking their lives by messing with high-voltage equipment, are thought to be responsible for a spate of attacks in Haywards Heath, Lindfield and Scaynes Hill in recent months.

Hundreds of people suffered a power cut near Haywards Heath on Saturday after electrical staff discovered a wooden pole carrying 11,000 volt cables had been set alight and a metal pipe thrown on overhead electricity lines.

More than 500 people in the Lewes Road, Scaynes Hill Road and Orchard Close areas lost electricity because of the vandalism.

A further incident on Monday saw a second pole set on fire off Brooklands, Haywards Heath, cutting off a further 700 homes.

Now power bosses have warned the vandals their actions could prove fatal.

Colin Barden, head of network operations in the South East, said: “Our message is loud and clear: anyone fooling around with electricity could end up paying a very high price.

“Electricity is very useful but it is also incredibly powerful and must be treated with respect to stay safe. It can jump gaps so even if they didn’t contact the power line they could be killed.

“We are appealing to the public again to keep a close eye out for anything suspicious around the equipment which brings power to their local community.”

The attacks follow similar incidents in June when iron bars were thrown over overhead power lines in the Haywards Heath area. Another attack in Ditchling in April saw vandals set light to the base of electricity poles.

Both incidents caused power cuts to hundreds of homes.

Anyone with information on the attacks should call the police or UK Power Networks on 0800 587 3243.