Specialist electrical contractors were yesterday on the scene of what the police have said was power cables that were "deliberately" set on fire.

The blaze closing the M8 motorway near Glasgow for four hours and left 50,000 homes in darkness.

Scottish Power said "malicious damage" to high-voltage cables caused the blaze in an underpass, which led to the M8 near Braehead being shut on Monday and said it could not rule out cable theft as a reason for the damage.

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Police and fire crews, along with electricity and gas engineers, were called to the blaze involving two high-voltage cables in an underpass on the A8 at about 8.30pm on Monday.

The M8 motorway was shut between junctions 25 for the Clyde Tunnel and 27 at Arkleston after smoke blew across the road.

(BMcC)