UP TO 20 businesses in the city centre were forced to close yesterday afternoon when a fire left them without power.
A stretch of Ranelagh Street, outside Clayton Square shopping centre, was clouded in thick, black smoke when an electricity box caught fire underground.
Santander bank, The Lobster Pot chip shop and Leisure Time casino were some of the businesses that had to shut for several hours from 12.45pm.
People walking along the road dashed for cover when smoke began billowing out from under a manhole cover, near the Midland pub.
Eyewitness, Colin Menery, said: “It just all went black as if someone was burning tyres. No one could get through and there was a bit of panic.”
Steve Johnston, owner of the Midland pub, which also lost power, said: “The business will suffer, especially as we had to close for two days already this year due to the bad weather. We'll probably lose thousands of pounds.”
After Merseyside firefighters put out the flames, workmen from Scottish Power arrived to fix the problem. A spokesman said: “We had an equipment fault on the ground network. We apologise to everyone affected.”
