Dozens of St Albans residents who were left without power after a water main burst have received an apology.

The chief executive of St Albans District Council, James Blake, apologised after Telford Court was left without power for 48 hours earlier this month.

Mr Blake said: "I do understand just how disruptive it is not to have power for significant lengths of time. It’s a top priority for me and the housing team to get to the root of the problem and to fix it."

Telford Court is a tower block owned by the council and is made up of 60 residential flats.

Residents had no power or water between the evening of Sunday, November 9 and just before midnight on Monday, November 10. The problem also affected the lighting and lifts. The power was eventually restored to flats just before midnight on Monday, November 10.

There was also another power failure on the evening of Saturday, November 15 affecting around 30 flats, when the power was off between 5pm and 10pm. Over recent weeks there have also been other shorter term incidents.

Mr Blake said: "I want to thank all residents at Telford Court for their patience in difficult circumstances. In addition I’d like to thank council staff, colleagues in the police, our contractors and volunteers.  Many worked into the early hours to try and get the power up and running again and to look after Telford Court resident."

The council set up a reception centre at Westminster Lodge Leisure Centre to provide somewhere warm for people to go. The also provided overnight hotel accommodation for four families.

The two power failures were both connected to water leaks which caused the power cables to short circuit, thereby cutting off the electricity. 

The first leak was due to corrosion of the water main at the block, and the second leak was related to a bath waste pipe in a particular flat which has now been fixed. 

Mr Blake added: "While we have carried out temporary repairs to get the power back on, I am very conscious that there is a risk of further power failures until we resolve the underlying problem.

"We commissioned surveyors who tell us that first, we need to replace the mains water supply system in Telford Court.  Second, we need to renew the electrical submains system and provide additional isolation to prevent total power failure if a similar problem arises in the future.

"This week we issued the specification for the electrical works and we will be getting tenders back next Wednesday [today]. We expect to issue the specification for the works to the water system by the end of the week, with tenders expected back by Monday, December 1."

Councillor Julian Daly, Leader of the Council, thanked residents for their patience, and staff, police, contractors and volunteers for their work to support residents.  

The council's head of housing, Karen Dragovic, has written to all residents to apologise, and to explain what the Council is doing to rectify the problems at Telford Court. Further updates will be given at the next Residents’ Association meeting on 9 December. 

Chris White, Lib Dem Leader, said: "The apology is welcome but ultimately residents need action. The council needs to make the appropriate spending commitments to ensure that water and electricity supplies are properly secured and that these problems are not repeated here or in any other block."

The council is making arrangements to compensate residents, for example where frozen or refrigerated food was made unusable as a result of sustained power cuts.