ENGINEERS are confident they can complete emergency repairs to electric cables today as hundreds of households prepare to face a fifth day of prolonged power cuts.

Several streets in Darlington, many of which are populated by elderly residents, have had limited electricity since Saturday, when the power supply failed and was not restored until the early hours of the next morning.

Similar patterns followed on Sunday and Monday, prompting emergency engineering works by power distributor CE Electric, which last night said 288 homes were affected.

Residents of Gurney Street, Havelock Street, Katherine Street, Edmund Street and Aldham Street are known to be among those affected. All are situated off North Road, opposite Morrisons supermarket.

As temperatures failed to climb above freezing all weekend, many were left without heating and lighting, not to mention television or radio.

Judith Robinson, 66, of Edmund Street, said: “I’ve been passing time lying in bed, cuddled up, trying to keep warm.

You can’t even see to read using a candle.”

Fred Beadham, 57, of Katherine Street, said: “Even the traffic lights at the end of the road went off. If you are trying to cross the road you just cannot, I’m surprised there hasn’t been an accident.”

Richard Ashton, 75, of Edmund Street, said: “It seems warmer outside than in.”

Father-of-two Tony Wych, 44, of Gurney Street, said his children had only had one hot meal since Saturday.

He added: “The rest has just been sandwiches and pies.

The kids are bored senseless.”

A spokeswoman for Darlington Borough Council, which owns a sheltered housing development at Havelock Street, said: “The people who were particularly frail were advised to stay in bed. Everyone else had extra blankets.”

CE Electrics will be in Havelock Street today to provide hot drinks and snacks to affected residents.

The power is expected to be switched off between 9am and 11.30am to allow crews to finish the work permanently.

A spokeswoman for the firm said: “That should be the end of the work.

“We appreciate it is not ideal timing for customers but it is emergency work and if we don’t do it, it could cause further consequences.”