power cuts left users of a potentially life-saving personal alarm system at risk.

The Lifeline system in the Malvern area is operated by Worcestershire Careline, part of Malvern Hills District Council.

It allows elderly and vulnerable people to alert carers if they need help.

However, it cannot function for more than a short time without power from the mains.

Some parts of the region were without power from Sunday morning (October 27) until well into the second half of this week.

Keith Parry, the council's head of housing, revenue and technical services, said that the system serves 7,000 people in the region and relies on a piece of equipment called a portal, which is connected to the telephone and powered by the mains.

"When somebody initiates a call to us it needs power to do that and the link is made with the call centre," said Mr Parry.

"When power goes down the only way that it maintains is through a battery which lasts a maximum of 18 hours, in theory long enough for normal power to be restored."