A swan is being blamed for bringing down an overhead electric cable which left more than 50 people without electricity on a mobile home park.

The cable came crashing to the ground close to caravans at the Lower Radley Caravan Park in Radley. Another section of the cable fell close to the nearby Oxford to London railway line, near Radley railway bridge.

A Southern Electric spokesman said Network Rail was immediately alerted, but that the incident had caused no safety risk to rail passengers or delays in services.

The emergency work near the track resulted in residents at the park being without electricity from 6.30am to 5pm on Sunday.

The spokesman said: "We apologise for the delays in restoring the supply. In normal circumstances it would not have taken that amount of time.

"Normally, when we go to a call we can carry out the work immediately. But because of the proximity of the railway line we had to obtain permission from Network Rail.

"It means that they can arrange to call out a flag man if necessary."

Mary Brown, 74, who has lived on the site for 36 years, said: "I was woken by a loud noise and there was a big white flash. When I looked out of the window I saw three large wires lying in my garden and across the fence.

"I had no idea whether the wires were live. It was more than an hour before anyone came. If young children had arrived and gone near it I have no idea what might have happened."

But Southern Electric said that while people should always stay away from fallen lines, it would have presented no public danger because there is an automatic cut-off when lines fall to the ground.

A spokesman for Network Rail said: "There were no reported problems on the railway on Sunday."