Residents' anger at council's street light failure (From Watford Observer)

Abbots Langley residents' anger at Hertfordshire County Council's street light failure

12:20pm Thursday 10th January 2013 in News By Rebecca Perring, Reporter

Robin and Eileen Venn "were left in the dark" for more than two months

A couple from Abbots Langley have slammed the county council after they "were left in the dark" for more than two months.

Robin and Eileen Venn, who both have disabilities, say three street lights outside their home in St Lawrence Close had failed to illuminate every evening for more than two months leaving the street in complete darkness.

Despite reporting the fault to Hertfordshire County Council on numerous occasions and making his first complaint on October 25, Mr Venn says the lights were only switched back on, on Thursday, January 3.

This is not the first time the street has been plunged in to darkness and in October 2010 the couple were faced with the same problem when five lights went out.

Mr Venn, 58, a retired van driver for Watford Sheltered Accommodation, who has cerebral palsy, said: "We live on a road with lots of elderly and disabled people and many carers come in to help.

"The road has been in complete darkness over the winter months, which makes it very dangerous for all of the residents.

"At first it was just one of the lights flickering on October 25. So I reported it to the council straight away, then the other two went out and we were in complete darkness.

"Every time I rang up, I was given a different job number and apparently when you report a fault the council is given 20 days to fix the problem.

"Because of how long they took to repair the lights, it makes me think they were adding 20 more days on to the time they had to fix the problem."

Mr Venn claims he sent numerous emails to the highways agency and was advised UK Power Networks (UKPN) would be fixing the problem in November. Mrs Venn, 64, a retired clerk who has epilepsy and cerebral palsy, said: "We have had to avoid going out because it so dark and difficult for us to get around. "It worries me because how many more people are they doing this to?

"It is ridiculous and now the lights are back on, we hope they will stay on this time. But who knows, it is probably a case of how long for?"

Matthew Kelley, Ringway Divisional Manager, working on behalf of Hertfordshire County Council, said: "I would like to reassure Hertfordshire residents that if they repeatedly report the same fault, it certainly does not result in any of our work being pushed back.

"On this particular occasion, however, it does appear that due in part to persistent different faults on several of the lights and in part due to a communication issue between us and UKPN, the repairs were not completed as quickly as they normally would be.

"We would like to take this opportunity to apologise for the delay on this occasion."