AN Oxford Mail reader is angry it took an electricity provider nearly three weeks to fix streetlights which plunged her neighbourhood into darkness.

Kidlington resident Pam Fyvie said four lights in Waverley Avenue, three in adjoining Edinburgh Drive and another in an alleyway between Waverley Avenue and Evans Drive had all been out since New Year’s Eve.

She complained on Monday, while the Oxford Mail called Scottish & Southern Electricity Network (SSE) after speaking to Mrs Fyvie on Wednesday.

The lights were fixed by workmen on Thursday – but SSE has yet to provide any apology over the disruption.

Mrs Fyvie, who lives in Waverley Avenue, said she was worried that elderly residents could have fallen or injured themselves in the resulting darkness or that some people walking through the alleyway could have been attacked without being able to see their assailant.

Speaking yesterday, she said: “It’s taken all this time to act and that’s not good.

"Eighteen days without light outside is not something acceptable.

“They have failed in their responsibility to the community and I don’t see why that shouldn’t be exposed.

“Some elderly people have been here for some time – they don’t move (house) – and (SSE) put them at risk.”

She added that when she lodged her concerns with SSE, she had felt they were unwelcome.

Mrs Fyvie, 59, said: “It was: ‘How dare you phone us? We deal with the council.’ Excuse me – I’m a customer. Just because you don’t want me to, it’s not going to stop me.

“It is only luck that we didn’t have an accident to contend with because it was so black.”

“It’s really not good enough.”

Mrs Fyvie, who works from home as a glass artist, had been backed by Oxfordshire County Council, who said it had asked SSE to resolve the supply issue with the lights as soon as possible – but Mrs Fyvie slammed the company’s customer service as ‘diabolical’.

She said she believed the county council had done all it could to try to get things fixed.

Often faults with streetlights are because of a problem with the electricity supply, which is the responsibility of the energy supplier for a particular area.

In Oxfordshire, this is mostly the responsibility of SSE, with Banbury covered by Western Power Distribution and Thame and Chinnor covered by UK Power Networks.

If streetlights are off, then in the first instance the council asks people to report them on its free 24-hour fault line.

Any messages left outside normal office hours between 9am and 5pm are dealt with early every working weekday.

Any serious or dangerous damage outside office normal office hours should be reported to Thames Valley Police.

SSE did not respond to a request for comment.