A DOZEN families were forced to bin all their food and sit in the dark after an energy firm blunder cut off the electricity. 

Mums and dads in Wimborne, Dorset, say their kids missed dinner and wouldn't go to sleep during in the 11 hour power cut. 

Charlie Meakins, 30, binned £60 of meat and veg while her four children couldn't have tea or a bath before bed. 

Her youngest Katie, eight, didn't sleep because her nightlight couldn't be switched on. 

The mum-of-four told The Sun: "I've thrown away my entire weekly shop because it went off, I binned £60 of food. 

"It was hell, my kids went without dinner and my hot water is connected to the electric so they couldn't have a bath either. 

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"None of us were able to have a proper meal. 

"I don't know how I'm going to eat this week at all, I'm going to have to go to the food bank." 

A refrigerator will keep food safe for up to 4 hours during a power outage.

Families from 12 homes in Wimborne, Dorset, struggled without electricity between midday and 11pm on Wednesday.

SSE bosses have refused to give them compensation because the power outage was less than 12 hours. 

The families claim energy firm SSE told them their 11 hour nightmare was just a coincidence. 

Joanne Kirby, 43, used the torch on her phone to calm down her toddler who was crying through the night during the power cut.

She lives with her two youngest children ] Jacob, 17, and Oscar, three, while her other two kids are away from home. 

The mum-of-four told The Sun: "I couldn't cook dinner, I couldn't even have a cup of tea. 

"In the end I went to a soft play zone to get the kids out the house and have some food.

"Jacob went out to see friends but my little one was really scared at night because we were completely stuck in the dark.

"He wouldn't stop crying, it was really difficult and there wasn't really much I could do. 

"In the end I used the torch on my phone to calm him down a little bit, but he didn't really sleep. 

"It was terrible."

SSEN would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused

SSE told The Sun the power failure was due to an underground cable fault. 

A spokesman said: "Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) was alerted to a power cut affecting 12 customers in Wimborne at 12:23 on Wednesday 21 September.

"Engineers attended immediately and identified a fault on the underground cable network, which was repaired and all customers were back on supply by 23:10 that evening.

"Three of the 12 affected customers were registered through SSEN’s Priority Services Register and were contacted proactively to ensure their safety and that their needs were met while the repair work was carried out to their supply.

"SSEN would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused and thank customers for their patience while engineers worked to reinstate their power supply."

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