Elderly disabled people in 40 bungalows in March have been without TV for the entire Christmas period due to aerial problems not being fixed by Clarion Housing.

Deborah Blanc whose 83-year-old mother-in-law, Bridget, lives in Springfield Avenue said she is "disgusted" that the housing association has not solved issues with the communal aerial for nearly two weeks.

TV signals disappeared four days before Christmas with Clarion visiting on Christmas Eve to reinstate a new communal aerial box.

But when Mrs Blanc went to check on the property while Bridget was away for the Christmas break, she said she was "shocked" to find that the aerial still hadn't been fixed.

It meant that around 40 bungalows were without TV throughout Christmas.

"These are elderly people, some disabled, who are unable to get out," Mrs Blanc, who is a nurse, explained.

"Four days before Christmas they lost signal and they couldn't watch anything on TV.

"Then on Christmas Eve they put a box on the side of one of the properties to connect up and get signal back - but still nothing has been done since.

"My husband and I went round to check on the house this week and we couldn't believe that it was just after 4.30pm yet everyone was in bed.

"They've got nothing to do as they've got no TV to watch.

"It makes you wonder if they are ok, because usually you'll always hear or see a TV on through the windows but it was just all pitch black instead."

Another relative of one of the residents said that they had contacted Clarion - but due to offices being shut over Christmas they were only directed to emergency lines for gas and electricity problems.

Mrs Blanc continued: "It's so shocking and sad that the TV has not been on for any of them all over Christmas.

"Usually their TVs do not turn off because all they have to do most the day is watch that.

"It is disgusting because it is a service that they pay for too.

"The residents can't do anything or get their own aerial as it's all connected up to a communal one."

A Clarion spokesperson said: "We first received a report of a TV aerial issue on December 23 which, to our knowledge, was only affecting one property.

"On January 2 we received information the whole scheme was affected and our contractor has scheduled more time on site on January 8, when they were already booked to attend, to assess and fix the issue.

"We appreciate this has been inconvenient for residents and we will be working with the contractor to ensure a resolution as quickly as possible."