Traders say they are “living on tenterhooks” after being hit by a series of power cuts.

Businesses and homes in North Finchley have been hit by power cuts throughout the past 18 months, with more than 150 properties left in the dark for more than three hours on Monday.

Stuart Gibson, manager at the post office in High Road, said: “The lights went out at 10.35am, so we had to close the branch. We couldn’t let people wander round in the dark. Businesses on the other side of the road and down the same side were hit too.

“It’s a bit like the dark ages, you don’t realise how much you rely on electricity. It was embarrassing because we were saying to customers we will do the best we can, but our hands are tied. I had queues outside the shop.

“In the last year we have lost about ten days of trade. Not many businesses can afford to lose that. This isn’t a one-off, and no one tells us why. We are living on tenterhooks.”

Ingridd Dontov, who works at Boulangerie Joie De Vie café, said: “There was nothing to do. We had to close at 11 and wait in the shop. Even the cash machine was not working up the road.”

Sonja Suljavic, who works in the London Fashion clothes shop, said the power kept cutting on and off throughout the day.

“It was very strange. We couldn’t serve the customers because it was so dark, which was frustrating. We had to shut for the day. We are worried it’s going to keep happening.”

A spokesman for UK Power Networks, which supplies electricity in North Finchley, said: “UK Power Networks constantly works behind the scenes to maintain and improve the reliability of power supplies, and we have significantly reduced the number of faults on our network.

"However faults can still occur, and we apologise to our customers in the north Finchley area who were affected again on Monday after recent incidents.

"On each occasion we responded to restore power as quickly as was safely possible, made payments to customers where appropriate according to industry guidelines, and a range of new equipment including a new substation has been installed to meet the growing demands for power in this area. There is still some work to be done, which we are currently arranging.

"We are doing everything we can to ensure that the local network in north Finchley is as reliable as possible in future."