A busy medical practice in Oxford is back in business today after workmen toiled around the clock to reconnect its power supply.

The Marston Medical Centre lost access to thousands of patients' records for more than 24 hours following a cable fault outside its premises in Cherwell Drive.

Being fully computerised, staff returning from the Bank Holiday break had no record of anyone who had been booked in for appointments.

And with the phones dead, the practice - which has around 4,400 patients in Marston, Headington and north Oxford - was cut off to anyone trying to see GPs and nurses.

Southern Electric engineers discovered that a major joint in the cable outside had blown, leaving the underground cable smouldering for several hours.

They spent most of Tuesday trying to repair the cable, only to have it blow again when power was reconnected.

After only a short break during the night, the crew returned yesterday and restored the supply by 11am.

Practice manager Wendy Greenberg praised their tireless efforts.

"They were great," she said. "They were round-the-clock and I think they did a marvellous job.

"We've been very busy since then, with loads of people ringing up this morning. Some of them were in a bit of a tizz wondering why we hadn't been answering their calls."