Pensioners and people with disabilities living in sheltered housing have seen their security out of action for three weeks after a lightning strike.

The lightning bolt that hit the sheltered housing at Frys Hill in Nightingale Avenue, Greater Leys, Oxford, took out the security cameras, automatic fire doors and emergency alarms in communal areas.

The building's owner, Oxford Citizens Housing Association (OCHA), has pledged to get the power back up by the end of the week.

The housing association could not fix the problems immediately because vital circuit parts were sold out due to a high number of buildings across the south of England being struck by lightning, chief executive Jonathan Higgs said.

One 62-year-old tenant, who did not want to be named, said: "They said it would be fixed in a couple of days. But they said the same last week and again this week. I am annoyed that we keep getting fobbed off.

"A few of us are surprised there is not some kind of back up. You have elderly people here and some with walking frames. They would find it very difficult to push open the heavy fire doors in an emergency.

"You feel safer when you have a doorbell and camera so you can see who is trying to come in. We haven't had that since the day of the storm."

Much of the power was restored within 24 hours of the lightning strike during an electric storm at 9.30am on Wednesday, October 4.

But for three weeks security cameras allowing tenants - many disabled or vulnerable - to see who is at the front door have not been working.

Automatic fire doors which open when the alarm is activated have broken down and emergency buttons to alert a warden in communal areas have not operated.

Mr Higgs said: "It was an act of God and not something we could have planned for.

"Lightning strikes are very unusual, but it's well known that when they do happen they frequently affect electricity circuits. It is difficult to predict how much damage will be done.

"All that we can do is react as quickly as we are able to and make the building safe and secure, but things have taken longer because the availability of the parts.

"I don't think that there is much more that we could have done much quicker. It's regrettable that it has taken more time than we usually take to respond but sometimes it is beyond our control."

Heavy rain storms and lightning have caused chaos across the county this month.

Trainee teacher Charlie Sutton, 22, of King Alfred's College in Wantage, survived being hit by a bolt of lightning while on a charity walk. And single mother Alison Timbrell had to evacuate her house when a lightning strike set fire to her home in Berinsfield.