Power cut may have cost thousands

A waiter, who was working in Ask restaurant in London Street at the time, but did not want to be named, said: "We were lucky it was Monday night and not a weekend, so we weren't that busy.

"But no restaurant wants to have to turn away customers, or to ask them to finish their meals and leave.

"All of the bars and restaurants will have lost thousands of pounds with customers having to be sent away again."

Businesses throughout Chertsey were affected, with Sainsbury's and Co-op also having to close their doors early because the till systems were not working.

Nathan Hart, 27, of Galsworthy Road, Chertsey, was drinking in the Crown Hotel in London Street after work.

He said: "Everything went black and people were a bit confused about what was happening.

"I'd only been there about half an hour when we were all told that we would have to drink up, because the pub would have to close.

"People were getting kicked out of pubs, restaurants and shops all through the town, so the streets were a bit busier than normal.

"It certainly put a dampener on my night, and it seems hard to stomach that the power had to be off for three hours. Surely something could have been done before that."

EDF Energy were unavailable for comment as the Herald went to press.