Workers battle weather to restore power

Last night, there were still 7,000 homes and businesses in the North-East and Yorkshire heading for a fourth day without electricity.

More than 1,000 faults were caused by winds, and staff from Northern Electric (NEDL) have worked around the clock to repair them.

Helicopters were sent to isolated areas to identify damage to power lines, some of which were brought down.

An NEDL spokesman said: "We are making every effort to restore power to the remaining 7,000 customers still affected as quickly as possible.

"The continuing atrocious conditions have hampered our operations. We are monitoring the weather reports and will work continuously and safely until all our customers have their power restored.

"Once we have done that, we will be offering assistance to other utilities to ensure that we can minimise any disruption to customers."

Houses still without electricity included 1,000 on Tyneside, 2,500 in County Durham, 2,500 in Darlington and Teesside and 1,000 on the North York Moors.

Customers were advised to:

* Have a battery-powered radio tuned to local stations;

* Use a torch instead of candles where possible;

* Check to make sure elderly neighbours are safe;

* Leave a light on so you know when power is restored;

* Keep one room warm and stay in it.

A resident in one area where power has been off since early on Saturday, last night complained about her ordeal.

Pat Abbott, 59, of West Terrace, Coxhoe, County Durham, said: "We were told it would be sorted out quickly and we are still waiting - it has gone beyond a joke.

"I have been sleeping on a friend's sofa, but there is one neighbour who has had to move into a hotel because his son is ill."

Gary Flynn, of NEDL, said: "We have more than 550 staff working tirelessly to restore power as quickly as possible.

"We would like to reassure customers that we are doing everything we can to get power supplies back on.

"We would like to apologise to all of those customers that have been affected."