PEOPLE living at the southern end of Ebbw Vale were deprived of the chance to watch the Olympic Games opening ceremony due to a power cut.

Liz Powell, of Garden City, said electricity supplies were lost around 9.30pm on Friday night and she had phoned Western Power, to be told that around 3,000 homes were affected, but supplies had been restored to about half of them within a short period.

"They said they hoped to get the rest of the supply back up in about an hour, but it was 20 minutes to one before our electricty came back on," said Mrs Powell.

"It was the south of Ebbw Vale that was out, because of a problem with a sub-station.

"I was beginning to enjoy the ceremony and I think a lot of other people would have been disappointed as well."

No-one from Western Power was available to comment.