CUSTOMERS who lost electricity for up to two days could be entitled to compensation.

Power was restored this weekend to all homes and businesses across the region that were cut off by heavy snow.

Energy company NEDL said the last house was reconnected to the electricity supply just before 3.30am on Saturday - more than 48 hours after the power cut.

A total of 51,000 homes lost power when lines snapped because of the weather on Wednesday night.

The blackouts hit an area stretching down the east coast from Berwick, in Northumberland, to northern Lincolnshire and west across the Pennines, with east Cleveland and North Yorkshire being the worst affected.

The last properties affected in the Consett area of County Durham, and others in Northumberland, were reconnected by Friday afternoon.

NEDL said it concentrated its final efforts in the North Yorkshire communities of Malton and Whitby, and had all supplies back by the early hours of Saturday.

Ann Walker, from NEDL, said staff had worked through the cold snap to fix power lines that had been brought down by the storms.

Problems were caused by a combination of snow and ice on the overhead lines, which then broke under pressure from high winds.

NEDL will be considering claims from customers for compensation and will be contacting them with an explanation.