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Explosion as 2,000 left without power in Walsall

[gallery] An explosion and a power cut hit Walsall town centre today, affecting up to 2,000 properties including high street shops.

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Shoppers reported hearing a bang near the McDonald's restaurant on Park Street just before noon today. Dozens were evacuated from stores.

Walsall Council said an electrical substation had malfunctioned, causing a power cut in some shops.

Western Power said more than 1,800 customers had been affected and engineers were working to get it fixed.

Traffic lights were also hit, but were back online just before 1pm.

West Midlands Police said all emergency services were at the scene.

Power was restored by early afternoon.

Twitter users posted their accounts of what happened:

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