VANDALS who cut a pensioners' emergency lifeline have been accused of putting lives at risk.

The alarm system that links elderly people to Easington District Council's warden control centre has been attacked at Short Grove and Station Estate South, in Murton.

The system serves sheltered bungalows lived in by pensioners and disabled people. The culprits cut the communication line and removed batteries, which provide several hours' emergency power during electricity cuts.

A council spokesman said: "These vandals are putting people's lives at risk and we just hope they stop to realise the terrible effects of their actions. The communications systems are located at gable ends and many old people are frightened by the acts of vandalism, but by removing the batteries as well they are putting people's lives at risk."

Last November, similar vandalism left homes cut off in Station Estate East and South and in Penryn Avenue.