Pensioners and families have been left sitting in the dark with no heating after their homes were hit by a series of power cuts.

Families are still waiting for electricity company EDF Energy to fix their erratic supply problem more than a week after blackouts began in Round Hill, Brighton.

Homes were plunged into darkness as the power went down in high winds and cuts have continued throughout the week.

A multiple sclerosis sufferer was at home alone in the bath when the power cut occurred and was unable to call for help.

Families have been told they are unlikely to receive any compensation from the company and the faults are still occurring.

Vivien Eliades, of Richmond Road, said: "It's so miserable for people sitting in the dark night after night with no heating, lighting, television or radio.

"It's bad enough once but four or five times is not funny, especially if your sight is failing or you're elderly and living alone.

"We've got quite a few elderly residents in the area and the lady across the road has MS. She was in the bath when it went off the other day, which was quite scary for her.

"But it's not just lights, the heating is also being affected because of the thermostats.

"The lady with MS has a cordless phone running off the mains so if her house were to catch fire, she wouldn't be able to call for help."

The problems began last Friday when the winds were blamed for a transformer failing at Queen's Park. Cuts continued throughout the week, lasting for up to four hours at a time but affecting different roads.

Even the Round Hill Society's residents'

meeting had to be held by candlelight on Wednesday night.

EDF Energy now believes the cuts have been caused by a fault on an underground cable and that up to 130 customers have been affected each time.

Mrs Eliades said: "It's not just the inconvenience, it's quite dangerous, especially with the amount of candles we're using.

"The annoying thing for me is that we've had no communication from EDF so we've been left on the phone, listening to their recorded messages for ages.

We then get told different stories when we finally get through.

"Then, to cap it all, yesterday the man came round to check the meter - I think his ears must have been sore by the end of the day. It was the irony of ironies."

Today, engineers were carrying out repairs in Wakefield Road which they hope will solve the problem.

Residents have been told compensation of £50 will not be available unless they have been cut off for four hours or more on four separate occasions.

EDF Energy said the interruptions were unrelated to a power cut that hit Withdean on Tuesday morning.

Its spokeswoman said: "We do understand the inconvenience that these interruptions have caused and would like to apologise to customers for the disruption."