The lights went out on Christmas day due to a glitch in the county council's system.

With the majority of presents opened, Brussel sprouts eaten and Queens spoken, large parts of Epping Forest were suddenly plunged into darkness.

From 7pm until the following morning streetlights in Waltham Abbey, Buckhurst Hill and Loughton stopped working.

This was not a festive extension of Essex County Council's policy of switching off streetlamps from 1am however, but the result of a fault.

A spokesperson for the county council run Essex Highways said: “There was a temporary glitch in our streetlights system on the evening in question and our engineers are currently investigating the issue.

"We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused.”

One woman was driving home from her daughter's house in Loughton when she noticed the lights on Buckhurst Hill were out.

She said: "We encountered a young man standing on the offside of his car with the back door open. Clearly baby seats in the back.

"We nearly didn’t see him because of the dark. I dread to think what could have happened. So dangerous."

Shortly afterwards Epping Forest Neighbourhood Watch Tweeted: "People are reporting that a lot of streetlights are not on from Nazeing to Loughton through Waltham Abbey and also Buckhurst Hill.

"Other lights on saver mode. Please be careful on the roads."