FIVE days in the dark and still no light at the end of the tunnel – the misery continues.Fuses are short and patience is running out among villagers in Hasketon who have had to cook by candle light and wear extra layers to keep warm.

By Georgina James

FIVE days in the dark and still no light at the end of the tunnel – the misery continues.

Fuses are short and patience is running out among villagers in Hasketon who have had to cook by candle light and wear extra layers to keep warm.

Despite these archaic conditions, electricity suppliers 24Seven are still palming off customers and refusing to commit to a time as to when the lights of 650 homes in Hasketon will be switched back on.

One man today spoke of his concern and says he is angry because he remains in exactly the same position as he was on Sunday.

His situation is dire and now he must fork out to have his sewage plant before he has an environmental health problem on his hands.

"I am really rattled. The situation is not getting better and now my sewage plant is full to capacity and I am having to call out a special tanker to empty it."

Robert Anderson's environmentally friendly sewage treatment plant is reliant on power to dispose of household waste and only has holding capacity for five days.

Mr Anderson, who lives in Top Road, says he has no confidence in 24Seven. "I am sure their shareholders are getting treated better than their customers," he said.

When Mr Anderson, 46, finally managed to speak to a representative from 24Seven yesterday, they told him that his power was unlikely to be restored by Saturday.

"I feel they are doing very little to help their customers and I am hacked off and feel it's a little bit rich of their managing director saying there will not no automatic compensation payout. What they are basically saying is that we can try and claim but they will be doing their very best not to pay out.

"I am recovering from cancer and having to cook using my barbecue in my garage and am finding it extremely difficult to keep warm. It's been a miserable five days.