Police have revealed the reason why hundreds of homes in West Cumbria have been left with no broadband.

Homes in the Maryport area have been left with no internet since around 10.30pm last night.

It was initially reported the damage had been caused by a vehicle hitting the network cabinet.

However police have now confirmed the outage is due to theft of copper.

A spokesman for Cumbria police said: "We’ve been in contact with BT and attended the scene and it’s theft of copper.

"Cables have been dug up and copper stolen."

Engineers are currently on site to repair the damage.

Anyone with information is asked to report it to police referencing log 76 of today.

Email: 101@cumbria.police.uk

Call non-emergency number: 101

Or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Always call in an emergency 999