SAN DIEGO -- Three houses in Paradise Hills were evacuated Monday after a contractor broke a two-inch natural gas line, according to San Diego Gas & Electric.

The homes were evacuated at the intersection of Jouglard and Jester streets around 11:30 a.m., and people were allowed to return around 1 p.m. when the line was capped, said Rachel Laing of SDG&E.

"It was a contractor doing trenching work," Laing said. "He had the lines marked out. They dug into our line, they went too deep, and a Cox cable line."

The gas line that was broken did not serve houses in the area, Laing said.

Cable television service was unaffected, according to Ceanne Guerra of Cox Communications.