Boiler nightmare for mum and children (From Prestwich and Whitefield Guide)

Boiler nightmare for mum and children

11:10am Wednesday 13th March 2013 in News

A SINGLE mum and her four children were forced to visit friends and family to wash and keep warm for six days because of a faulty boiler.

Emma Blake, aged 32, says that since the equipment was fitted at her local authority home in Ferngrove, Bury, it constantly leaked acidic water.

And despite numerous complaints and attempts to repair the boiler, it was only finally fixed this week.

Miss Blake, a Six Town Housing tenant, has four children, Kirk, aged nine, Stevie, aged six, Jorja, aged three, and one-year-old Keith.

She said: “The boiler had been leaking acidic water from the internal overflow pipe. People came out to look at repairing it but they ordered all the wrong parts and then glued the leak with solvent cement and even taped the leak. But nothing worked due to the acidic water being so corrosive.

“This left me and my four children without heating and hot water for a total of six days. They offered electric heaters which use a lot of power and I said no. As a single mum, I simply can’t afford to be putting more electric on my meter.

“I had to keep myself and my children warm and clean by going round to friends and family.”

This week, however, repairs were successfully carried out and the boiler is now working.

Six Town Housing said they had been unaware of the problem, which was being handled by a contractor, until this week.

Paul Webb, manager of sustainability and investment, said Six Town had replaced boilers in more than 200 homes during December, which are more energy efficient and will reduce carbon emissions.

He said: “We have service standards in place and expect our contractors to provide a high quality customer-focused service. However, we do recognise that things can go wrong and we have tenant liaison staff who are happy to deal with any concerns or complaints.

“I am aware that we have received a complaint from a tenant on Ferngrove which we are looking into and will provide a full response once we have completed our own investigations.

“We have already visited our tenant and have confirmed that the boiler is working correctly.”