A major power outage hit the area around the French Riviera resort of Cannes on Saturday, the final day of the Cannes Film Festival.

The power cut began just after 10:00 a.m. local time (8:00 a.m. GMT) due to a fire that broke out overnight in a substation in the nearby village of Tanneron. The fire has since been extinguished.

Cannes mayor David Lisnard had said officials believe it was "targeted in a criminal act."

In Villeneuve–Louet, about 15 kilometers (9 miles) northeast of Cannes, three pillars of an electricity pylon holding up a high-voltage power line were cut, prosecutors from the Alpes-Maritimes department said.

"The Prosecutor's Office of Alpes-Maritimes condemns in the strongest possible terms these acts against the integrity of our infrastructures," a statement said.

It added that power supplies were being "progressively" restored.

According to grid operator RTE, the power outage affected 160,000 homes in Cannes and the surrounding area.

The outage caused traffic lights to fail and led to traffic jams in the glitzy holiday resort. Shops were closed on one of the main streets.

Teams from RTE and supplier Enedis were working to restore the network. 

The Cannes Film Festival organizers said the closing ceremony would not be affected by the power outage.

The festival announced it had "switched to an alternative electricity power supply, which enables us to maintain the events and screenings planned for today in normal conditions, including the closing ceremony." 

However, morning screenings at the festival's cinemas were briefly interrupted while the supply switched to generators.

At the closing ceremony, scheduled to start at 16:40 GMT, French actress Juliette Binoche and her jury will announce the winners of the festival's top prizes. Twenty-two films are competing for the Palme d'Or this year.

Edited by: Wesley Dockery