Neighbours say street-light power cuts around their homes are bringing back memories of Second World War blackouts.

Householders in Shelldale Avenue and Shelldale Crescent, Portslade, have to take torches whenever they leave their homes at night, relying on house and security lights for their safety.

Cars have to be parked away from homes in better-lit streets after one was hit three times by motorists turning into a darkened road.

Now a petition has been started in a bid by residents to get something done.

The lights started going wrong at the end of last year and were out for two-and- a-half weeks just before Christmas.

They came back on for Christmas and the new year but were then off for January 6, 7 and 8.

Pensioner Mary Bowyer, 67, of Shelldale Crescent, made a diary of darkness after she started to make regular calls to Brighton and Hove City Council and electrical supplier Seeboard about the lack of lighting.

The diary shows residents had street lighting from January 9 to January 20, then the lights went off to January 28, before going back on until February and they have been off since.

She said: "It is very frustrating. When the lights are out in these roads it is as if we are returning to the days of the blackouts. One car in the street has been hit three times by vehicles turning into the road and there have been instances of people tripping over the kerbs.

"Nobody has come round to see what it is like here at night when the lights go out and nobody has given us a proper explanation. We are literally being left in the dark."

Betty Bishop, 74, of Shelldale Avenue, said: "We are all getting very fed up at our lack of street lighting. It seems as if we are the forgotten corner of Portslade. Some residents have even talked about withholding their council tax."

A spokeswoman for Brighton and Hove City Council said: "We are fully aware of the problem with street lighting in Shelldale Avenue and Crescent. We are working with Seeboard to correct it. There is a problem with the cable and also the switching system at a local sub-station. Work is starting this week to try to rectify the cable problem and we hope we can permanently resolve the problem with street lighting in this area."