HOUSEHOLDERS in the west end of Darlington this week experienced their fourth power cut since Christmas.

Monday morning's electricity failure affected about 2,000 customers, including homes in Tower Road, Fife Road and Woodland Terrace. The cut lasted from 7.58 to 11.55. Businesses in Cockerton and Bondgate were affected temporarily.

Mrs Margaret Martin, who has lived in Tower Road for the past 40 years, is furious with the electricity company and blames the faults on old cabling still in daily use. Northern Electric denies this claim.

Mrs Martin told the D&S Times: "The problems have been gradually building up over the past two years. The television and lights regularly flicker on and off. Monday's cut is the fourth since Christmas.

"I am pig sick of this happening. I believe there is something major wrong with all the old electricity cables that supply the west end."

Mrs Martin, an osteo-arthritis sufferer, now keeps her camping stove in the house so she can brew a hot drink whenever the supply is cut off.

"I usually keep the stove in the garage, but because I need it so often it's easier to keep it indoors now," she added.

"We are all fed up, and you can't speak to anyone when you phone Northern Electric. All you get is a recorded message which tells you your call is in a long queue.

"We would all be sympathetic if the pylons were down due to the weather, but this is clearly not the case.

"I'm a mature student taking courses in machine embroidery and millinery, and the power cuts mean I can't use my sewing machine or iron. It's completely unacceptable."

A spokesman for the distribution branch at Northern Electric confirmed an underground cable was at fault but denied that old cabling was to blame.

She said: "Previous faults in this area are all unrelated. Experience shows that the majority of underground faults are due to previously unreported damage by other contractors carrying out underground work.

"The problems take time to develop. Water gets into the cables and the heat generated causes sub-station fuses to blow. Once the fault becomes permanent on the cable, it can then be identified and rectified.

"On Monday the faulty sections of the cable were replaced and investigations showed that the remaining cables are healthy.

"We apologise to all our customers for any inconveniences this has caused. This area has just been unlucky.