Residents coping without power for a third day have criticised the electricity company's handling of the emergency.
Hundreds of households in the rural areas of Braintree and Witham were still without electricity today, more than 48 hours after storms cut the power supplies.
Some residents have been warned they could be without heating and hot water until Thursday.
They said the problem was being made worse by conflicting messages from power supplier 24Seven.
Mandy Dickson, shopkeeper of the Terling Store in The Street, said it was doing a brisk trade in candles.
Around 25 homes in the village of Pattiswick, near Coggeshall, were also still without power this morning
Resident Susan King said: "I've lost everything in the freezer. It's very cold and dark, and we don't know when it will come back on because we can't get through to ask anybody."
24Seven hopes to have most customers' power back on by this evening.
A spokesman said it was dealing with emergency situations first where there was danger to the public or where they had critical needs due to medical reasons.
Published Tuesday October 29, 2002
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