Over 200 properties in Portrush were left without electricity after specialist equipment was vandalised at a substation in the area.

NIE Networks responded immediately to make equipment safe and had all power restored shortly after 6am.

Kevin McDowell, Head of Health, Safety & Environment at NIE Networks, said: "Our priority is the safety of the general public and our employees. Vandals are risking their own and other peoples' lives by approaching substations substation and causing damage. In this case we know that power tools had been used to access the substation which houses live, high voltage equipment. Any type of interference in this environment can be unforgiving.

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"They are also causing great inconvenience to the local community who are left without electricity."

(CD/LM)