THE lights were back on last night in a village which has existed in a twilight blackout for more than a month.

Villagers in East Hedleyhope, in the Deerness Valley, north-west Durham, say they have been left in darkness after sunset, despite repeated complaints since the street lights first became faulty in early December.

But, following further calls for help, a street lighting team from Durham County Council, backed by engineers from electricity distributors NEDL, finally pinpointed the problem yesterday.

They managed to rectify the fault and restore light, to the relief of local people.

Parish council chairman John Pickersgill said older villagers feared going out recently in the evenings due to fears of slipping over in total darkness.

"We were worried there could be some sort of tragedy because of this. It's not just been the odd light or two, it's been all of them.

"I've lost count of the number of calls we've made to report this. They came out one day and got the lights back on, but before it was dark they were off again."

A county council spokeswoman said the problem was,"an intermittent fault" which proved difficult to trace.

"We had an inspection team out early today and they finally found out what they believe was to blame."

She said an insulator which insulates the overhead wires from a pole was found damaged.

"Hopefully, we have isolated it and the people of East Hedleyhope will have their lights back on for good," she said.