The residents of The Doubles, 21 warden-supervised flats near the town centre, have been left for weeks with TV pictures that flicker, have interference, some Freeview boxes no longer work, and sometimes the signal cuts out altogether.

The problem started when the old communal aerial system failed and residents switched to using a newer digital-compatible system.

Nancy Sanderson, 81, is one of those affected. She said: “There was absolutely no problem with the digital system until the old one broke – then they both stopped working.

“When they repaired the digital one the signal was bad, and almost unwatchable for some people.

“None of us go out in the evenings, so television is our main entertainment. Being without it is a major problem.”

Celise Ford, another resident, said: “I bought a digital TV but the engineer told me there wasn’t even a digital signal coming through the new aerial. The signal we get is cack – watching it can even give me headaches.”

Stephen Pugh, maintenance manager for Bedfordshire Pilgrims Housing Association (BPHA), said: “On the afternoon of Friday September 12 we received a report that the television system at The Doubles had failed.

“An engineer visited the site on Monday September 15. He assessed that the analogue system had suffered a fault, and that the digital system had been tampered with.

“The engineer fixed the digital system on the same day. We did not resurrect the analogue system as this is now not needed.

“Since then we have received no reports of further faults until we received this enquiry. We will now send out an engineer to assess the problem.

“As a gesture of goodwill to our residents at this development we will install access to digital television in one bedroom in each property in addition to the access in the living room.”