A DISABLED pensioner claims Norweb left her in the dark for 12 hours.

But the company said it acted as quickly as it could in the circumstances.

Florence Lane, aged 72, of Longworth Road, Horwich, says a fault was reported to Norweb in Preston at 11.15am on Friday.

But it was 11.30 at night before her supply was restored.

"I went all day without a hot drink or food," said Florence, who is still shaken after her ordeal.

She said a council electrician who had been called out to her flat rang Norweb in Preston to report a failure outside the building.

"I sat there all afternoon," said Florence. "Eventually I got fed up and rang Norweb and they said that no report of the problem had come through from Preston.

"If it was up to them I'd still be in the dark a fortnight later."

Her electricity was eventually turned back on at 11.30pm that day.

"By then I was really shaken up," said Florence. "I just want to warn people to follow up any reports they make to make sure they've been passed on.

"I'm an old lady and I was left in the dark for 12 hours. It was a terrible experience."

She added: "I wouldn't mind but I pay by direct debit and I'm £80 in credit. You can be sure that if I owed them any money they'd be round here in two seconds."

A Norweb spokesman said: "We could not have reacted any quicker than we did.

"We do not like any of our customers to be left in the dark, but this was completely out of our control."

He said Norweb's records logged a call at 3.05pm from a council employee reporting the fault.

"At 4.23pm, we got someone out there and he discovered that the fault was not internal but was something to do with the supply coming in. About 6pm, the gang started work and she was reconnected at 11.30pm."

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