A modern-day plague left Bromley Reform congregants in the dark on Sunday when they should have been enjoying their annual seder.

The community’s Highland Road shul was hit by a power cut. Told that supplies might not be restored until late in the evening, organisers already at the synagogue were faced with a dilemma.

But with 100 eggs still to be hard-boiled and the same number of salmon and salad dinners awaiting preparation — never mind the prospect of shivering through the Haggadah reading — they opted to postpone.

“It was an absolute nightmare,” said the synagogue’s Judi Sheffrin. “Fortunately, we were able to organise a mass phone-around, and managed to catch most of the participants either en route or before they’d left home. Even so, about 20 people, including some of our old and infirm members being brought in by volunteers, arrived at the shul before hearing the news.”

The seder was eventually held on Monday evening.