AN ALERT resident contacted the fire brigade after smelling burning which turned out to be an underground electric cable.

Leigh fire crews attended the property in White House Road, Eastwood at 9pm on Sunday and realised it was coming from underneath the pavement at the end of the driveway.

This smell can be caused by the heat from a fault on the underground electricity network.

They rang electricity supplier UK Power Networks who arrived within 20 minutes.

Power was cut to 151 customers to allow the fault to be repaired overnight and power was restored by 3.55am..

A spokesman said: “Teams worked through the night to restore power to customers in the White House Road area following a fault on a piece of equipment on our high voltage underground electricity network.

“We realise how difficult it is to be without power, particularly at this time of year and apologise for any inconvenience.”