VULNERABLE and elderly residents have complained that they have been plunged into darkness and put at increased risk of break-ins after contractors left scaffolding up around a block of flats for half a year.

Residents and councillors have criticised Brighton and Hove City Council home repairs contractors Mears after scaffolding was left up around flats in Barnet Way, Hove, despite repeated pleas for it to be removed.

Ward councillor Dawn Barnett claimed the company was leaving scaffolding up on buildings all round the city to avoid paying to store it.

She said she had raised the issue with high-ranking Mears officials at two council meetings where management had apologised and told committee members they aimed for scaffolding to be up for no more than three weeks.

Mears have apologised to residents but said it had strict procedures deterring subcontractors from leaving scaffolding up any longer than necessary.

Scaffolding went up on four council-owned terraced homes in Barnet Way, Hove in October.

Residents said there was an initial flurry of action but that no one had been seen on site since before Christmas.

When Mears staff returned to the site at the start of the week, they told residents that the job had not been completed and the scaffolding would have to remain.

It eventually came down on Thursday.

Christine Gumbrell, 72, has been a resident in the street for 24 years.

She said: “Mears had said the scaffolding was coming down on Monday but then we then got here they said more scaffolding was going up because there was more work to do and they apologised to us because the work had got lost in the line.

“We hadn’t seen anyone round here for months, they fumbled around with the chimney when the scaffolding first went up but I haven’t seen them since.

“That was just before Christmas.

“One of my neighbours can’t go out by himself. His window is his connection to the outside world but with the scaffolding his living room looks like the black hole of Calcutta.

“I know one of my neighbours is frightened because the scaffolding is right over her front room window.”

A Mears spokesman said: “We apologise to the residents of Barnet Way for the time it has taken to complete the repair work, caused by some unforeseen delays, however the scaffolding has now been removed. We understand scaffolding can be inconvenient for residents, so we have strict procedures over its usage as well as penalties to deter subcontractors from leaving scaffolding up any longer than necessary.”