A PRIMARY school in south Essex remains closed for a third day after the loss of several vital utilities.

West Horndon Primary School has been closed since Monday after a power cut which affected the school as heavy winds battered the county.

In a statement published on Essex County Council's emergency school closures list on Monday, the school said it was "unable to keep the children safe" because it had no hot water, electricity, working phones, or fire alarms.

An update issued on Wednesday says the school "continues to be closed due to power outages affecting all of the school site".

A statement on the UK Power Networks website confirms engineers are aware of the outage but it is currently not known when the power will be switched back on.