Potentially live electricity cables could still be dangling in a river, four days after they were knocked down in the storms.

Jill Hadlee said the cables were severed when a tree was knocked over in her garden, in Abbey Lane, Coggeshall, by the winds gusting at up to 100mph on Sunday.

The tree sliced through the wires leaving them dangling in the River Blackwater and Mrs Hadlee said despite repeated pleas to network operator 24seven, no-one has come to check if they have live electricity running through them.

"We don't know if they are live or not," she said.

The police and a qualified electrician have been to look at the cables, but so far no-one from 24seven has called to make sure they are safe, she said.

A spokesman for 24seven said today: "We are working flat out again today and hope to have the last homes reconnected overnight."

Published Friday November 1, 2002