“We lost an afternoon’s trading on the busiest day of the week, it’s ridiculous really that this could happen but I suppose it’s part of commercial life,” William Mealiff, owner of the fashion store Cliento told the ‘Journal’ yesterday.

Mr Mealiff, whose brother Trevor owns Cafe Fresco also located in the town’s Pavilion retail park, was also affected by the power cut which lasted more than two hours.

William Mealiff said: “We had no power to run our tills, security systems or lights so we had to close up the shop before 3pm and we didn’t re-open. Whoever caused this power cut on the Melmount road will no doubt have to pay NIE compensation but it is unlikely that the traders will get paid anything which is ridiculous.”

Fiona McClintock, NIE Customer Relations Manager for the Strabane area, said that the power cut - which affected around 1,000 people - was caused by a fault developed on a high voltage underground electricity cable.

“NIE emergency crews responded immediately, breaking the circuit into sections to pinpoint the location of the fault. The majority of customers were restored within an hour and a half while remaining groups of customers were restored by 5.05pm.

“NIE is currently investigating the cause of the fault,” she added.

The town’s largest commercial store, Asda was not affected as its generator “kicked in 15 seconds” after the power cut occurred.