ALMOST 2,000 football fans in the Selby area missed Michael Owen's crucial goal against Denmark because of a power cut.

Supporters in 800 properties - including some town centre pubs - could not believe their eyes when their TV screens went blank only 15 minutes into Saturday's game.

One fan said he nearly choked on his beer as he sat on the edge of his seat as England tried to build on their early goal by Rio Ferdinand.

Punters at the Rose and Crown, in New Street, Selby, disappeared as soon as they lost the pictures from Japan.

They headed for another pub, closely followed by pub manager Bill Wareing.

Mr Wareing said: "Nearly all my customers legged it as soon as we had the power cut. But by the time we got to the Queen's pub the power was back on and we went back to our own pub.

"I was sat in the pub on my own at one time but then decided to follow my customers and left the barmaid in charge."

Punters at the nearby Albion Vaults also suffered a power cut after an overhead power line came down.

Landlady Sharon Laughton said: "Luckily there was a motorist outside with his car radio on and he was telling us the score."

A Yorkshire Electricity spokesman said they had to cut the power off for about ten minutes for safety reasons while they repaired the overhead line.

He said about 800 premises were affected, including the Flaxley Road area, south of Station Road and parts of Wistow and Cawood.

The spokesman said: "We apologise to the fans - it must have been awful. We had no choice but to close down the system for ten minutes."

Selby Police reported a very quiet day with no arrests.

Updated: 16:10 Monday, June 17, 2002