Magpie knocks out power for thousands

Power has been restored to most of the 7000 homes in Wairarapa left without electricity after a magpie flew into a transformer.

The bird strike this morning affected power to homes in Greytown, Martinborough and surrounding areas in Wairarapa.

A spokesperson for Transpower says the grid fault has been restored.

However, it was taking some time for that to flow through.