A NORTH Yorkshire bed and breakfast owner has described how Storm Arwen has “taken his livelihood away” after losing £1,500 in revenue due to power cuts this week.

Rob Marchant, from Bell Busk in the Yorkshire Dales, said he had to cancel all scheduled guests after he lost electricity at The Old Station Bed and Breakfast on Friday evening.

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The 100mph winds hit the UK last Friday and nearly a week on, 19,500 homes are still without power as a result of the extensive damage caused.

Mr Marchant said: “I’ve had to cancel all the business, it’s cost us £1,500 in revenue.

“I’ve been frustrated (and ) I’m made all the poorer because it’s taken a week and a half, and my livelihood away.

“You wouldn’t want to go to a bed and breakfast that has no heat, no light, no hot water, no food.”

Mr Marchant’s power was finally switched back on at around 1pm on Thursday, however, he stressed how now they had “nothing to feed our guests with.”

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He added: “Now we don’t have anything to feed our guests with – I’ve got to now go and restock all of the food, everything that we’ve got rotten in our fridge and freezer… so not only have I lost the revenue, I’ve lost the ability to feed guests.”

“We’ve had to cancel all guests this weekend as well.”

An official spokesperson for the Prime Minister said a further 7,949 homes had power restored since Wednesday, meaning 98 per cent of 950,000 homes originally affected now have electricity.

Rain, sleet and snow fell in south-western parts of the UK on Thursday, while wintry showers have affected the north and east.

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The Met Office said the showers would be confined to Norfolk later on Thursday, with gales easing along the North Sea coast.

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