Angry residents in a York block of flats say their communal areas were left in darkness for 11 days.

People living in block 19 of Lady Mill Garth, Clifton, say they were left with no lights in their outdoor stairwell and path.

Building owner 54 North Homes has since apologised and fixed the lights.

Resident Peter Knight, speaking before the lights came back on Monday (November 6), said: “I’ve been having to live in complete darkness.

"I have a walking stick, I daren't go to the shops when it's dark because I can't see.

“We had no lighting for the past 11 nights now.

"I couldn't see my hand in front of my face or the lock on my door."

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A fellow resident in the block, who did not wish to be named, said: "I have a two-year-old daughter and we couldn't see, we were tripping and falling on the stairs."

Building owners 54 North Homes said it sent an electrician to fix the faulty lights on each floor.

In a statement, the company said: "We apologise for the inconvenience caused by the lights being out in the communal areas at the Lady Mill Garth flats in Clifton.

"When we were first notified about the problem our engineers attended and temporarily disabled one of the lights due to a fault: all the rest of the lights were left in working order.

"We were unaware that all the lights in the communal area had failed again after the initial visit. Had we realised this we would have attended again as an emergency.

"The safety of our residents is our primary concern and we regret that customers were without communal lighting for a number days."

York Press: The spotlight (pictured) and lights for all stairwells in the block weren't working

One resident feared there may be an underlying issue with the lights.

They said: "They need to take everything down and get to the root of the problem.

"It's only this block where it's happening, everywhere else is fine."

After 54 North Homes repaired the the lights it issued as assurance to all of their customers and said: "We take repairs to our properties very seriously and want to assure our customers that we will address any issues or repairs as soon as we are aware of them."

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