BETWS community councillors have admitted that the outlook remains gloomy for residents of Parc Nant y Felin, whose streetlights were turned off in January.

Last month the Guardian reported how residents felt they were living in 'the Black Hole of Calcutta' ever since Swalec turned off the streetlights as no-one was paying for the electricity.

Carmarthenshire county council confirmed the estate had not been adopted and the developer had gone into administration.

Betws councillors decided not to commit themselves to funding the lighting, for fear of being saddled with unacceptable costs.

County councillor Ryan Bartlett confirmed last week that matters were on hold until Welsh Water adopted the estate's sewers and it had been suggested that, in the meantime, residents should form an association and take on the electricity costs themselves.

"It looks like this could be a losing battle," he conceded.

Cllr Cath Smith asked: "Wouldn't it make sense that all these things are sorted before the county council gives a developer planning permission?"

Cllr Bartlett replied: "Unfortunately, the developer in this case went bust."

"Anyone buying a house there should have been told about the situation by their solicitors – you'd have thought searches would have been carried out."

Cllr Dewi Branch nevertheless suggested the local authority should have set funds aside to deal with such a situation. "If I lived there I'd be shouting about this – I'm sure we all would," he added.

Cllr Richard Howell said he feared progress would be slow.

"Welsh Water do not generally deal with matters quickly," he observed.