When you get home from holiday the last thing you want is a cold shower and no working kettle.

But the Jones family had it even worse then this - they were welcomed back to their Wateringbury home by a power cut lasting 10 days.

Matt and Sharon Jones and their two children aged 3 and 11, were forced to shower at swimming pools, throw away food from the fridge and use a camping stove to boil water.

Mr Jones, 45, said: " Our stress levels have been through the roof - at the end it became unbearable."

57 properties were affected in Red Hill and surrounding areas, including the North Pole pub.

Throughout the 10 days, the electricity would come back on, only to switch off again a few hours later.

The longest period of time the family were left without power was around 24 hours.

Normally working from home two days a week, CEO of Guideposts Trust charity Mr Jones had to instead use a nearby coffee shop's Wi-Fi.

UK Power Networks gave the family multiple explanations, from a faulty generator to blown fuses.

Mr Jones added: "We have vulnerable neighbours who are in their 90s - luckily it has not been too cold a winter."

He persisted with the electricity company, calling them two or three times a day.

"They are good at responding but are working within their budget and time pressures without care for people affected by this disruption.

"Because the power was not off for 'prolonged' periods of time, I do not think we are entitled to any compensation.

"Some of our neighbours appliances have broken because of the sudden power surges, which older electrical items cannot take."

A UK Power Networks spokesperson said: "We apologise to customers for recent interruptions to their supply. Engineers traced the cause to a substation cable and repairs were completed by March 5 to ensure reliable supplies.

"While the fault was located and repaired, power was temporarily maintained via a generator, which developed a fault and was replaced.

"We set guaranteed standards of service and if we fail to meet these standards, customers are entitled to receive a payment and customers would have been contacted proactively by our team."

The family's power cut lasted from February 24 until last Friday, when power was fully restored.

Hopefully, they will not need to make another visit to the swimming pool showers any time soon.