A DARFIELD pensioner who broke a number of ribs following a fall in the dark last week has hit out after Northern Powergrid failed to fix the street lights more than a month after they first broke.
Residents on Illsley Road and Morrison Road in Darfield have quite literally been left in the dark over the issue for almost six weeks.
They have complained to the council who have been in touch with Northern Powergrid, whose issue it is to bring light back to the area.
However there has been no fix as of yet - resulting in 75-year-old Mary Wilkinson falling over in the dark and breaking her ribs.
She told the Chronicle: “Last week I tumbled down in the dark, smashing my face and breaking my ribs.
“I ended up in hospital and I’m now housebound.
“No one seems to be doing anything about it.
“The council are saying it’s Nothern Powergrid’s fault but they’re still not fixed.
“It’s not safe.”
A spokesperson for Northern Powergrid told the Chronicle: “We are sorry to hear that a local resident has fallen and we wish them a safe recovery.
“We received a request from the local authority to investigate streetlights which were not working on Illsley Road, Morrison Road, and Woodhall Road in Darfield, Barnsley.
“Our teams were on site on Tuesday and Wednesday as part of our ongoing work to investigate the cause so we can coordinate any necessary work to repair and permanently restore power to the streetlights.
“We would like to reassure residents that work will be safely carried out as soon as possible and we thank them for their patience.”
Coun James Higginbottom, cabinet spokesperson for environment and highways, added: “The fault to these streetlights was reported to our Highways team.
“This was investigated, and it was established that the faults were not with the streetlights themselves, but a fault on Northern Powergrid's supply cable that powers the streetlights.
“We reported this issue to Northern Power Grid in early October.
“We will continue working with them to resolve this issue as quickly as possible.”
