Essential Energy said it happened at 7.32 am. Its crews restored power to 474 homes within an hour and the rest within two hours.

A statement from the company said: “Crews were quick to respond to an unplanned power outage which affected 598 homes and businesses.

“Regional manager, Mark Summers, said network protection equipment operated automatically to switch off the power supply after sensing a problem.”

The company said: “The unplanned power outage was caused by a broken pole cross-arm”.

It apologised for the inconvenience and thanked customers for their patience.