A young mother has been reading her son's bedtime stories by torchlight because her Hailsham home has been plunged into darkness.

Trudie Port, 25, has been without electricity since Tuesday morning, leaving her home freezing cold, dark and with no hot water.

She fears for the health of herself and her five-and-a-half year old son, who cannot have a bath or a hot evening meal.

Voluntary worker Miss Port's problems stem from mid-March, when her son lost the key to the key-meter at their home in Diplocks Walk, Hailsham.

She called British Gas for a new one, which was delivered promptly but she later discovered the key-meter would not accept it after she had put £20 on it.

An engineer put an emergency amount of electricity in, while another key was sought.

But that ran out at about 11am on Tuesday, leaving Miss Port and her son without any power.

She claims to have called British Gas more than 20 times, since then, in an effort to resolve the problem but she was still without power this morning.

Miss Port said: "The house is freezing cold, I've been unable to bathe my son or cook him a hot meal and he cannot watch television.

"He has been sleeping in my bed because I'm worried he'll get frightened if he gets up in the dark and finds he cannot switch on the light.

"I'm concerned for my health too. I suffer from asthma, which is made worse when I'm under stress.

"I've been on the maximum dosage of my asthma medication because I'm so stressed and I've been in tears as I've just had enough."

Miss Port's son last night had to stay with his father, who she is separated from, because the house was cold and dark.

A British Gas spokesman said today a new key was being delivered this morning and compensation would be given to her for the contents of her freezer.