THE Civic Offices in Epping have now been without power for some 24 hours.

Power was lost yesterday afternoon when workmen cut through a power cable in the High Street.

Epping Forest District Council staff are still working in the building but all electronic payments have been halted, and a council spokesman warned that services could be affected.

She said: "Residents are still able to visit the Civic Offices for information and advice, and the council can still be contacted via telephone, however all electronic transactions are unable to be dealt with at present."

She added that payments could be made in person but only by cash and cheque.

She also warned that debit and credit card payments via the councils' automated telephone payment system and online payments through the council website would not be processed.

Staff hope the offices will be operating normally by tomorrow morning, although further delays are expected as engineers try to restore the computer systems.

Council chief executive Peter Haywood said: "I'd like to apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused. The office has been operating on power supplied by our emergency generators and I would like to thank all those affected for their considerable patience and understanding during this incident."