An elderly man from Helsby, near Ellesmere Port, says he was left without electricity for 72 hours following damage from Storm Arwen in November 2021.

Bertram Wilton-King, a resident of Cheshire Park Homes for 35 years, was initially denied compensation when his mobile home lost power for three days.

Mr Wilton-King said: "We had no cooking arrangements, nothing whatsoever. People had to throw out all their frozen food, hundreds of pounds worth was thrown out."

Scottish Power Energy Networks offered £150 compensation to those who were without power for more than 48 hours due to Storm Arwen, but as the 81-year-old's property is sub-metered, the energy company said that he would not be eligible for the compensation.

Many mobile homes do not pay individually for their utilities, but costs for these services are included in land rental costs, which are paid to the site owner. Mr Wilton-King says that he was told only the site owner would be able to claim a one-off payment to cover the time during which the electricity supply to multiple properties was unavailable.

He said: "It's the unfairness of it. This is a thing that happens with mobile homes. I'm unable to have my own supply [of energy] because of the cost it would take to put in and the fact that I don't own the land. It's a catch-22 situation. The people I was talking to [at Scottish Power] sympathised with us, but sympathy doesn't get us anywhere."

A spokesperson for Scottish Power Energy Networks said: "Storm Arwen was the worst weather event we have experienced in 30 years, which caused significant damage across parts of our electricity network and resulted in power outages to 200,000 customers at its peak.

"The majority of our customers, 96%, had their power restored within 48 hours however, for customers off for more than 48 hours we provide compensation in line with the energy regulator, Ofgem’s, Quality of Service Guaranteed Standards."

"These guaranteed standards payments apply to customers whose premises are directly connected to our distribution network. As Storm Arwen was such an exceptional weather event we are reviewing cases who do not qualify for the guaranteed standards on a case by case basis to see if we can provide them with a one-off compensation payment."

Having spoken to The Standard, the energy company have now confirmed they are working with Mr Wilton-King and others at Cheshire Park Homes, to find a solution.