Dozens of Hampton residents were left in the dark after workmen cut through a cable leaving them without power for 24 hours.

Eighteen residents in Station Road were without electricity last Thursday, after an underground cable that supplied the area was cut during works in the High Street at the junction of Ormond Avenue.

The situation worsened when a further 37 homes, unaffected by the initial mistake, also had their power cut by EDF Energy due to safety reasons.

The Richmond and Twickenham Times learnt that the incident is believed to have escalated further when the workers were subjected to aggressive and abusive insults from people which led to the power supplier calling the repairs off until the morning.

James Vaughn-Spencer, of Algar Court, Station Road, who was affected by the powercut said: “It was a bit of a farce. The fact is we weren’t told anything about when we would get power and why we didn’t have it in the first place. This was about the fourth power cut this year. It’s a disgusting way to treat people.”

Jane Sinclair, also of Algar Court, said: “I couldn’t use my phone to complain as the power was dead. No one has said anything and no-one has been round. People then started complaining about the noise of the repairs so they had to stop until the morning.”

EDF Energy noted the cable was cut by a third party but would neither confirm nor deny that the work was stopped because of aggressive behaviour towards its employees.

The spokesman said: “The noise was disturbing residents. We suspended the work shortly before 11pm and isolated supplies to a further 37 customers in the area for safety reasons.

“We do understand how much inconvenience any interruption to power can cause and apologise for any inconvenience. EDF actively encourage any firm undertaking work to contact us in advance for advice and free cable locating maps, to help them avoid our cables.”