Firefighters were drafted into Bridlington from neighbouring towns to tackle numerous blazes and one woman, who was trapped as fire engulfed her hallway, described it as "terrifying".

Another resident compared the scene to a "war zone".

Simon Frankish, of Auburn Walk, said: "It was like something out of a horror film, like Poltergeist."

Thousands of pounds worth of damage was caused to electrical equipment and properties on the New Pasture Lane estate on Sunday afternoon and some residents had to evacuate their homes because of the fire damage.

Families had to be led to safety from one block of flats after an electrical fuse box caught fire.

In a separate incident on the same afternoon, homes in Carnaby were also left without power when a tree fell on an overhead cable. Power was restored there at 11.17pm on Monday.

The power went off in the New Pasture Lane area at about 5pm and although around 400 customers had their electricity restored quickly, 151 had to wait more than 24 hours.

Engineers visited homes throughout Monday and into Tuesday to test electrical appliances and by 6.30pm on Tuesday all customers – apart from five whose properties needed rewiring – had power restored.

But a number of residents still do not have central heating or hot water.

The worst affected roads were Burstall Hill, Burstall Walk and Auburn Walk. Firefighters tackled 13 incidents in just over an hour and police officers patrolled the area.

YEDL described it as an "extremely unusual incident" and spokesman John Bird said there would be a full investigation of the problem, which happened at a local sub-station.

He said anyone without power for more than 18 hours would get a £50 payment from YEDL and said the firm would help people make claims with their insurance companies.

A 24-hour helpline has been set up for residents on 0800 0763850.

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