HUNDREDS of homes were left in the dark after debris ripped down power lines.

Some residents in Long Preston were without electricity for more than 100 hours after supplies were cut at about 6am on Saturday.

The power was finally restored on Wednesday, but in the meantime some villagers checked into nearby hotels.

Residents in Tosside were without power from 7am on Saturday until 11.30am on Tuesday. The lack of electricity meant no running water as the supply comes from a private borehole which is pumped to the surface.

The Crow Trees Inn, also at Tosside, had to be closed for four days until power was restored.

Mandy Gleave, who runs the pub and neighbouring caravan park, said customers had to be turned away. "It has been quite a difficult time. We are trying to get back to some sort of normality now."

Also turning away guests were The Tempest Arms at Elslack and The Tennants Arms Hotel at Kilnsey, which both suffered power cuts.

Malham suffered two large electricity cuts, with supplies down from around 9.15am on Saturday until around noon on Sunday and then again from 5pm on Sunday until 7.45pm on Monday.

Simon Maufe, owner of the village's Beck Hall guest house, said he had lost around £650 as he had to offer refunds, throw away food and buy camping lights and candles. Fifteen people were staying at the bed and breakfast and were charged half the normal price.

He added: "We were able to cook breakfast as we have gas and could boil water, but our guests couldn't take a shower or anything. What I am most annoyed about is not being able to get through to United Utilities - we had no idea what was going on. It was pretty rough."

Meanwhile pupils at Kirkby Malham School enjoyed an extra long weekend.

Children were sent home early on Friday because the nearby roads were beginning to flood and then the school had to close on Monday and Tuesday because of the power cuts.

Police also received reports of a power failure north of Cracoe on Saturday with around 35,000 homes affected. Staff at Threshfield Court Nursing home pulled together to keep vulnerable residents warm.

A spokesman for United Utilities, which provides electricity to the north of the district, said: "We can only apologise to people - we know it has been an inconvenience. We have been literally working around the clock to try to get everyone back on."

A spokesman from YEDL, which supplies electricity to the south of the district, said: "150,000 of our customers in the North East, Yorkshire and Northern Lincolnshire had their electricity supplies disrupted by the worst gales to hit the UK for many years.

"Nearly 600 staff battled in the high winds in atrocious conditions to restore all supplies as quickly as they could.

"We apologise to anyone who experienced difficulty contacting us and thank them for their patience and understanding.

"In the aftermath of the gales, all our efforts will be dedicated to massive job of patrolling the 32,000 kilometres of overhead line network to locate and repair any underlying damage caused by the severe weather."