PANIC struck when elderly and disabled people were left without electricity for more than 14 hours.

The power failure at The Glebe sheltered accommodation complex in Dunnington affected the lift, lights, and residents' panic alarms, as well the intercom at the entrance, delaying visitors trying to get in.

Residents criticised Northern Electric Distribution Ltd (NEDL) for taking so long to fix the problem.

Sheila Pennington, 67, was reclining in her electric-powered chair when the supply cut off. She was unable to sit up, and her discomfort became unbearable. "I pressed the panic button but it didn't work," she said.

"I stayed like that until the lady in the house next door said we could lead an extension lead from her house to my room. I was screaming with pain in my leg."

Mary Marsden, 56, alerted NEDL to the fault at 2pm on Wednesday. The fault was repaired at 4.30am the next day.

"It was panic stations," she said. "We had no lights, no way of cooking, there was no lift. Old people were walking up the stairs. Why were we left in dire straits?"

She said NEDL should have acted more quickly, and provided a generator.

Council wardens and carers came to the rescue with torches and flasks of hot water and food, and stayed into the early hours. Residents said the carers acted "over and above the call of duty".

Jean Radford, 76, said: "If anyone was taken ill or fell in the dark they wouldn't have been able to get help - the phones were down and the intercom was off, so the panic buttons didn't work. You panic."

NEDL spokesman David Gill said two damaged underground cables had caused the power cut.

"There was an issue with two of the joints. We had to get the materials there, the joints and the cables, and find exactly where the damage was."

Properties with vulnerable people were treated as a priority, he said.

"We do everything we possibly can. With vulnerable customers we normally put generators in while the repairs are affected. But these are separate properties with individual supplies. By the time we had connected generators safely, we would have had the cables repaired. Our engineer was on site most of the time."

Bill Hodson, City of York Council's acting director of community services, said staff stayed throughout the night to support residents.

"Given the emergency nature of the situation, staff handled things brilliantly. There are 29 tenants at the Glebe, all of whom were affected by the power cut, which affected the whole building.

"The council do have back-up generators, but NEDL advised this was a major power failure and that generators could not be used."

Updated: 09:52 Saturday, July 16, 2005