RESIDENTS across the North East have been left “angered” after they were left without power for over 48 hours following Storm Malik.

Today (January 31), 7000 customers remain without power in the region, with around 1,100 coming in County Durham, after Storm Malik and Storm Corrie swept across the country over the weekend.

One man in County Durham said pensioners in his village were “suffering”, while another said “very few lessons had been learned” since Storm Arwen in November.

Read more: North East gets update about power outages from Northern Powergrid

Peter Isgate, who lives in Finchale Abbey Village, County Durham, said power had been off in the residential park since 10am on Saturday.

After going through 48 hours without power, the homeowner has now berated Northern Powergrid for arriving on Monday morning and leaving his village “high and dry”.

The 65-year-old council worker told the PA Agency: “The average age is around 70, 75. Some people have got electric hobs, so they’ve got no heating at all.

Darlington and Stockton Times: Several trees were felled at Raby Castle, County Durham, over the weekend. Picture: RABY CASTLE.Several trees were felled at Raby Castle, County Durham, over the weekend. Picture: RABY CASTLE.

“Most of them have got dogs so the animals are suffering, they’re suffering. There’s been nobody down to see them. They’ve offered to bring coffee and hot food this morning.

“It’s not about food. You can get a takeaway or something like that. It’s about heat and cold, old people feel it, and it just seems like they’re getting ignored.

“There’s some people haven’t got cars, they’re past the age of driving, so they’re basically stuck here in this cold weather.”

Read more: Storm Malik: Compensation for County Durham power cuts

PR worker Bryn Hylton, 45, lives in a remote farmhouse in Knitsley, County Durham, and has also experienced a “shocking level” of communication from Northern Powergrid.

He said: “We’re quite philosophical about the power cut itself, these things happen.

“We live in a rural location and, while you don’t expect these things, you can be quite forgiving of them.

“What annoys me the most is just the lack of communication.”

Mr Hylton added: “It’s really the lack of information – and I get they’re trying to deal with 1000s of people, but I think it seems that very few lessons have been learned in the comms since Storm Arwen and it seems to be a case of history repeating itself.”