HUNDREDS of Blackburn pensioners were left out in the cold in their all electric council houses in 1979.

Many had to spend all day in bed in order to keep out the worst of the winter chills, while others saw their hard earned life savings vanish before their eyes as they were faced with ever-increasing energy bills.

Margaret Munds, 68, who lived in Huntley Close on the Galligreaves council estate in Blackburn, said cash-strapped pensioners like herself had to pay as much as £10 a week for heating, lighting and cooking in their tiny all-electric homes - money many of them couldn’t afford.

She decided to draw up a petition in the desperate hope that someone would take action to improve the plight of bread-line pensioners.

She said: “We just cannot afford to heat our homes properly, so we have to stay in bed all day with hot water bottles to try and keep warm.

"Is this any way for people to live? Yesterday I went to some other pensioners' homes on the estate and some of what I saw was absolutely pathetic, through no fault of their own."

Mrs Mund spent most of her days in darkness with the curtains drawn to keep out the draughts

She intended to give the petition to Blackburn council, who she blamed for the situation as she said they should never have built electric only council houses.