YORK was plunged into a brief spell of chaos when a snap power cut struck most of the city and many outlying villages.

Shops plunged into darkness, customers were evacuated, traffic lights jammed and people were trapped in lifts after a major electrical fault affected an estimated 60,000 homes yesterday.

Investigations were today continuing into the cause of the half-hour black-out, which hit the city at about 12.40pm.

National Grid confirmed a system glitch in York caused a loss of power to its network.

Spokesman Chris Mostyn said: "It's hard to say at this stage what the problem was. It might have been a technical fault but we are investigating a number of possibilities."

Supplier NEDL, which takes electricity from the grid into homes, confirmed supplies were restored by 1.10pm.

NEDL's information line said the black-out affected the following postcode areas: YO24/26/30/32, which includes Acomb, Holgate, South Bank, Bootham, Clifton, Haxby and Earswick. Large parts of the city centre - including a large stretch of Coney Street and Micklegate - were also hit

The black-out prompted chaotic scenes on a busy half-term shopping day.

Firefighters rescued people stuck in lifts for up to 20 minutes. Crews were called to the Lakeland shop, High Ousegate, and the Royal York Hotel, and used lift keys to free trapped people.

The power cut also caused mayhem on the roads. Trouble spots on a busy Sunday afternoon were Monk Bar, Water End and Leeman Road.

Sergeant Dave Hopper, of York Police, said the Micklegate/Skeldergate junction was a problem because some lights jammed on red - while others were stuck on green.

"We had people queuing on red for ten minutes and just going," he said, adding jams at Monk Bar were "horrendous".

A City of York Council spokeswoman said engineers worked urgently to fix the Micklegate lights.

Helen Guy, manager at Virgin, Coney Street, said the shop was evacuated when all the tills went down. "We could have done without it," she said.

Emma Hourston, of Top Shop, said: "We didn't evacuate, but people left of their own accord. It was quite dark."

Updated: 10:05 Monday, February 14, 2005