A councillor has complained of an "unacceptable" electricity supply to the west of Braintree in the wake of power cuts.

Roger Walters, Conservative county councillor for Braintree West, is concerned about a lack of continuity in supply and believes blackouts were of an unacceptable length and frequency.

Mr Walters wrote to TXU Energi with the concerns of his constituents.

In his letter, he said: "I am particularly concerned at your apparent inability to restore supply.

"Specifically, my concern is that if these had occurred at a time of severe weather when your resource would be stretched, you would obviously not be able to cope with the problems.

"A recent complaint about the failure of supply from a mother highlights the particular difficulties of feeding and keeping warm young and vulnerable children."

On December 10, 982 domestic and business customers in Black Notley, London Road, Braintree, White Court and Great Notley lost power at 5.57pm. The last properties were reconnected at 9.40pm.

On December 3, 798 customers were affected in parts of Braintree, Great Leighs and Black Notley.

Thirty customers had to wait seven hours before their supply came back.

Mr Walters called for the electricity company to outline plans for better continuity of supply and how power failures can be dealt with more quickly.

A spokeswoman for 24seven, which operates the network on behalf of TXU Energi, said the incidents were unrelated.

Published Thursday December 27, 2001