ABOUT 500 homes were still without power this afternoon as engineers continued to repair the chaos caused by yesterday's storm.

Gales brought power cables crashing down across Kent and EDF Energy Networks drafted in extra staff to restore supplies.

At around 5pm on Monday, a spokesman for EDF confirmed around 6,000 customers in the South East, including more than 1,000 in Kent, were cut off.

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This morning, the total numbers of customers without electricity had dropped to 3,000, with less than 1,000 in Kent.

Engineers have been working through the night to reconnect properties affected.

The spokesman said: "We have teams out across the region again from early this morning to restore supplies as quickly and as safely as possible.

"We apologise for the inconvenience caused to customers."

He added that the properties affected now are mainly at individual rural properties and it was hoped the vast majority would be reconnected today.