MORE than 30 businesses were left without power following a fault.

Lights started to flicker in offices along Jew Street, Brighton, on Saturday, February 14.

Natasha Slater-Bowen, of travel agent Pura Aventura, said: “An electrician came out, did a temporary fix and said they needed to do more major works. I came in on Monday morning to complete darkness and no computers working.”

Tom Tranter, who owns offices in Jew Street, added: “Ten companies based at my building were not able to use the building and had to cancel a number of workshops that were taking place.

“Thirty to 40 small businesses have been affected in Jew Street so there would have been substantial financial cost to these companies.”

A spokesperson from New Writing South, a charity that supports and encourages writers in the southeast, added: “We had to cancel a seminar today just in case the electricity would go out again, which has inconvenienced students”.

Central Networks engineers fixed the fault at around 4am on Tuesday after Brighton and Hove City Council gave permission for the road to be closed.