INCENSED residents say they are fed up being left without power on a new housing estate.

Families living on the Keepmoat Woodford Grange development in Winsford claim they have endured around 12 electrical power failures since September.

On Saturday they were left with no heating or lights for eight hours and they were also left in the dark on Friday.

Residents dread having power cuts over Christmas and have called a public meeting on Friday to press energy providers and developers to take urgent action to resolve the problem.

Dad-of-three Carl Oldfield, 32, said: "We had to put our children to bed early on Saturday, get candles out and have a takeaway. Our youngest daughter is 18 months old, it's been a nightmare with bottles.

"The vast majority of residents have young children.

"People have had to go and stay with friends. Christmas is just round the corner and many of us have family coming to stay.

"It appears that the power is provided by a fuel supplied generator and this doesn't seem to be able to cope with the demand."

Carl moved into his new home over a year ago and says almost half of the 400 properties have now been built on the former

Another resident said: "The power being cut off so much recently has cost me in time, money and effort as I work from home three to four days a week.

"Every time the power cuts I have to drive to work because the internet is a must."

Some residents say they have lost food in their freezers and others have complained about the cost of buying takeaways because they were unable to cook meals.

One resident added: "It needs sorting as soon as possible. My four-year-old fell down the stairs. I had family over for a party that had to be cut short because it was freezing with no heating.

"God help those that have newborn babies or children with needs. This is a disgrace.

"None of us should be allowed to live in these houses until we was put on the mains and the correct work was carried out."

Residents have called a public meeting at 3.30pm on Friday, November 30 at the Neuromuscular Centre.

A spokesman for Energetics, the company which supplies power to the estate, said: "A stand by generator was installed as a temporary measure. There have been a few instances when the generator hasn't worked as it should have done.

"A new maintenance programme of remedial activity has been put in place to reduce the risk of that happening again.

"A sub station has now been constructed and is ready to go. We are waiting to finalise legal documents to enable the safe and secure transfer of the supply into the high volt network.

"We are focused on finalising these legal arrangements and hopeful of connecting the development to the high voltage network before Christmas. I absolutely understand residents' concerns.

"We are doing everything we can to drive this forward as quickly as possible.

"It was never intended for this development to stay on a generator. It was only a short term measure."

A spokesman for Keepmoat Homes said: “We are aware of the problems which residents of Woodford Grange in Winsford have been experiencing and are currently working on a permanent solution to the issue.

"We are working closely with Cheshire West Council, Energetics and Scottish Power to finalise a solution to this problem and connect the affected homes to the new sub-station and hope that timescales will be confirmed over the next few days.

“We apologise to the residents of Woodford Grange for the inconvenience and distress caused by this issue and will continue to work hard with our partners to remove the reliance on network generators and address the problem as quickly as possible.”