In the dark: Mark Frake (left) and Jean and Andrew Lock were plunged into darkness
Householders left without electricity in North Cheam were still waiting for supplies to return three days later when the great bank holiday getaway had begun.
As thousands of Britons took to roads to chase the sun, about 40 gloomy residents in Ridge Road were stranded by an inauspiciously timed power cut.
The blackout hit several properties last Wednesday morning and it took EDF Energy engineers until 6.30pm on Friday to fix the fault.
Jean Lock, 58, who works with children with special needs, was among the householders pursuing compensation from the electricity supplier this week.
She said: "There are many old and vulnerable people in this road who were left in freezing cold conditions, with no hot drinks or water.
"We had to throw out two freezer-loads of food and had our driveway cut up as they went about digging up the street willy-nilly.
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"I just feel we have been treated inhumanely. No one told us what was going on, and there was no apology, even though I rang up to complain several times.
"They could at least have offered to put us up in a hotel with hot showers. The initial payout is just £50, which is totally unacceptable."
This week EDF apologised for the lengthy interruption to power supplies, as its workers struggled to find the "complex fault" with an underground cable.
Staff apparently stayed until midnight on Thursday to excavate the road and split the network. Work halted at midnight to minimise noise disruption.
A spokeswoman said: "Considerable work continued on Friday to locate the fault and, at 4.05pm, we had to isolate supplies to a further 10 customers in order to carry out the final repairs.
"We do understand how difficult it is being without electricity for such a long time, and we apologise that this fault was unusually difficult to locate and repair.
"Our customer relations team is writing directly to the eight customers this week to apologise and explain further."
Customers are entitled to £50 compensation from their distribution company if the supply is not restored within 18 hours, and a further £25 for each subsequent 12-hour period without power.
I don't understand what is happening with the electricity supply in the borough. It is now rare to go 6-8 weeks without getting a power cut. There is a generator in The Spinney for surrounding roads for the second time in 2 months. We've had two 10-12 hour cuts and are then put on a generator for a week or more while EDF try to find the fault.
Privatisation of electricity has done consumers no favours in either cost or reliability.
I don't understand what is happening with the electricity supply in the borough. It is now rare to go 6-8 weeks without getting a power cut. There is a generator in The Spinney for surrounding roads for the second time in 2 months. We've had two 10-12 hour cuts and are then put on a generator for a week or more while EDF try to find the fault.
Privatisation of electricity has done consumers no favours in either cost or reliability.
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