THOUSANDS of homes were plunged into darkness and commuters faced travel chaos after a major power cut hit York.

York Station was closed for around two hours and travellers had to be evacuated earlier today (Monday, December 3) after the power went down. 

The outage is understood to have been caused when workmen at a city centre demolition site accidentally hit a power cable.

In an update, National Rail Enquiries said: "We have been advised that York station has now reopened to both passengers and trains.

"Services may still be disrupted for the remainder of the evening. They will also be extremely busy."

In a tweet, First York said that Park and Ride sites will remain open so people on delayed trains can retrieve their cars.

Northern Powergrid said that it has managed to restore power to 4,064 of the 5,058 properties affected by the unplanned power cut.

In a statement at 6pm today the company said: "Our teams are working to restore power to the remaining customers as quickly as possible. 

"5,050 homes were affected in the YO1, YO10, YO17, YO23, YO24, YO26, YO30, YO31 and YO90 postcode areas of York after another company inadvertently damaged an underground electricity cable.

"Extensive excavations and repairs are required to restore power to the 960 properties still affected in Y016 as a result of another company inadvertently damaging our network.

"Power is expected to be restored for our customers by around 4am tomorrow morning.

"We’d like to reassure our customers that we are doing everything possible to safely get the lights back on as quickly as possible. We are keeping those affected updated on social media and by text as well as through our online power cut map at northernpowergrid.com and 24 hour contact centre.”

Northern Powergrid added that the power cut happened just after 3pm and was caused by another company inadvertantly damaging an underground electricity cable. 

A construction team has been working at the site of the former railway offices, off Toft Green, to demolish Hudson House.

One eyewitness, who works at George Stephenson House, said: "Just after 3pm, there was a loud bang and a flash of sparks.

"It looked liked an electrical fire at the Hudson House site.

"The council offices, the Grand Hotel, George Stephenson House are all without power."

Paul Horrocks, another eyewitness, said: "It looks as though someone has gone through a power cable.

"There are scorch marks up against the wooden hoardings.

"Two fire engines and two ambulances are on the scene.

"The traffic lights were out on Nunnery Lane."

A spokesman for the Grand Hotel confirmed that its power came back on at 5.10pm. 

Another eyewitness added that customers had to leave the Boots store in Coney Street as the lights went out.

A North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue service spokesperson said: "We can confirm that power lines have been cut through by maintenance.

"There was a small electrical fire but this was out by the time two fire engines arrived.

"There is a power shortage throughout the area and Northern Power has been made aware of the incident."

A spokesman for Squibb Group, the demolition team that was appointed to work at the Hudson House site, declined to comment.

In a statement, City of York Council said: "The area affected is from Tadcaster Road, The Mount in the south, down towards the river in the north, across to the railway station and Leeman Road in the west and towards Nunnery Lane in the east.

"West Offices has been closed and all non-essential services and meetings are cancelled. We closed the contact centre at 4.30pm due to low emergency power levels and the safety of those in the building. 

"Transport is affected both in terms of street lights, some traffic lights being out and the station is closed. The council’s operation services and depot are not affected."