Residents were left for the fourth night without power after electricity supplies failed yet again.

The problems have been effecting more than 200 houses in Westcliff since Sunday night due to a faulty transformer at a substation.

Darren Attersley, who lives in Beedell Avenue, Westcliff, said his power cut out again at 8pm last night.

He said: "We have another night without power. It's stupid, it comes on all day and goes off at night.

"If it was during the day it would be daylight and people have things to do or they are at work.

"But if it's at night it causes problems, especially if you've got children. My son is afraid of the dark and we can't have dinner, we can't have a bath or shower. It's an absolute nightmare."

A spokesperson for EDF energy said the loss of power affected about 275 homes at just before 6.30pm last night.

He added: "We are working to restore power as quickly as possible this evening. It's the same fault as before. We expect the work on the new transformer to be completed today and that should rectify the problem.

"We apologise for the inconvenience this problem has caused."

He added that the problem in the evening was caused by a load' problem when people all return home for the evening and switch lights and TVs on.

Anyone who wants to contact EDF energy about the problem can call 0845 767 3673.