Shops owners hit by yesterday's power cut in Sussex have lost thousands of pounds in sales.

Hundreds of people and businesses across East and West Sussex were plunged into chaos by the failure.

The power cut initially affected parts of Brighton and Hove, Peacehaven, Rottingdean, Telscombe, Woodingdean and Poynings.

But a spokeswoman for supply company EDF Energy later said the electricity loss was confined to Lewes, Uckfield and Barcombe.

Mark Arno, president of Uckfield Chamber of Commerce, who runs Carvills, a soft furnishings company, said: "I believe about 95 per cent of the High Street lost trade for one hour or more - that is about 15 per cent of their day.

"The majority are independent shops, running their own businesses, so they don't want to shut for a minute longer than they need to.

"A power cut like this, even for an hour, has a negative effect. EDF needs to find out what happened so this doesn't occur again. Had it been on the Saturday before Christmas, it would have been a disaster.

"It has shown us how reliant we are on computers. In Uckfield, everything stopped as traffic lights, computers and tills could not be used."

The power cut started at 11.30am yesterday. Lewes District Council could not be reached by telephone and the town's crown court was also evacuated.

Power was restored about an hour later but not before hundreds of businesses were forced to turn customers away.

David Quinn, president of Lewes Chamber of Commerce, who owns Barbican Carpets in Lewes High Street, said: "Generally in the town, people don't realise how much we rely on electricity. But we coped all right. People appreciated some shops had to close for security reasons. It was an eye-opener to show what could happen if power cuts become more frequent, as some people have predicted."

A spokeswoman for Safeway in Eastgate Street, Lewes, said: "We had to get everyone out and close the store. However, the back-up generators came on so the freezers and fridges were okay.

"We have checked the food. We haven't lost anything except sales."

Steven Gauge, director of communications at Sussex Enterprise, said: "Any operational disruption can have a serious impact on any business which could affect customer satisfaction, staff morale, productivity and profitability.

"Informing customers of any disruption to their service as early as possible is key to minimising any dissatisfaction and a thorough health and safety procedure is vital to ensure staff and customer safety.

"Power cuts can occur at any time. Most businesses are aware of this and take the necessary steps to deal with them as part of the everyday running of their business."

The spokeswoman for EDF Energy said the failure had been caused by a fault at a main sub-station in Lewes.