GALES brought down power lines and left dozens of people without electricity last weekend.

The power cuts were caused by trees hitting power lines and wind debris causing short circuiting, according to electricity company Aquila.

Malvern Gazette weather expert Frank Hill said the winds were the strongest in the area since October 2002, with some gusts on Saturday up to 50 or 60mph.

More than 60 homes in Stoke Lacy were without electricity for 24 hours, from 2pm on Saturday.

Resident John Caiger said the cuts happened whenever the winds were high. He said: "Being without power is a bore. If we didn't have a Raeburn to provide heat it would be really tedious."

In Much Cowarne, around 100 homes were without power for at least seven hours on Saturday, including that of parish clerk Ted Parkes.

"Every time we have some wind or bad weather the power goes off- often for long periods of time," he said.

Mr Parkes said he was concerned about elderly people coping during the cuts without central heating and cooking facilities.

He said he had also been waiting more than a year for Aquila to come and clear a tree touching a power line on his land.

Several houses in the upper Cowleigh Road area of Storridge experienced intermittent power failure on Sunday. High winds caused a line to break away from an electricity pole in a field belonging to Don and Pamela Hurle.

Mr Hurle said he alerted Aquila to the problem on Saturday about 5pm. A team arrived at 7.30pm and the problem was fixed by 11.30pm.

"It only took them about two hours to respond and given the amount of work they had that was commendable," he said.

Rebecca Jackson, for Aquila, said overhead cables could not be strengthened to endure high winds and tree damage. She said underground works could solve the problem but this was costly and disruptive.

Ms Jackson said customers with trees touching power lines should report the problem to Aquila.