Heat is on for OAPs in the cold

2:30pm Sunday 11th November 2007

THREE pensioners who were left without proper heating in their homes after their boilers were condemned can look forward to a warmer winter after their story appeared in The Press.

A report in The Press yesterday revealed how Geoff and Jean Walker, of Swan Street, in York, had been left with just an electric fire to heat their three-bedroom council home since October 3 and council tenant Joan Doig had been without central heating since November 2, spending a weekend without hot water until British Gas fitted an immersion heater on November 5.

Mrs Doig, who suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, was loaned a fan heater by City of York Council, but was worried about the cost of the resulting bills.

Yesterday, the council said Mr and Mrs Walker's boiler had been fitted and Mrs Doig's was due to be fitted on Monday.

A spokeswoman said: "On November 5, an appointment was made with Mrs Doig for the new boiler to be replaced on Monday, November 12.

"At this stage the customer did have a temporary alternative form of heating and British Gas fitted an immersion heater to provide hot water. They also provided additional temporary heating.

"We realise that this is not an ideal situation, but we have done our best to ensure that Mrs Doig was able to stay warm and that her heating was replaced as soon as possible.

"With regard to the heating problems at Mr and Mrs Walker's home at Swan Street, an annual service was carried out on October 3, and parts were ordered the following day. A new electric fire has also been fitted.

Unfortunately, the parts have been difficult to obtain, and were received by the contractor on Thursday and fitted yesterday morning. The couple had hot water throughout the period when their heating wasn't working and also had an electric fire."

The spokeswoman said the council aims to carry out repairs as quickly as possible and ideally they take no more than a week.

She said: "Due to the unprecedented number of boilers that need to be replaced, our current contractor is finding it difficult to maintain this level of service. In order to address this issue, alternative contractors are already in place to deal with any homes that might otherwise fall outside our one-week target timescale.

"While we accept delays have occurred and are unacceptable, it should be noted that in the last 18 months we have replaced more than 2,150 boilers and fires with only very minimal delays."