Mum and 17-month-old left without heat for five days (From Gazette)

Mum and 17-month-old left without heat for five days

4:00pm Wednesday 3rd October 2012 in News

A MOTHER and her 17-month-old son were left without hot water or heating for five days after their boiler stopped working.

Abigail Crimes first noticed her boiler was not working on Thursday night but when she called to report the problem on Friday, she was told it wasn’t urgent and an engineer would not be available until Monday.

She was told someone would be there to help between 12pm and 5pm but when an engineer did not turn up, she went shopping to buy supplies for son Riley at about 5.30pm.

She returned 30 minutes later to a note saying an engineer had called but noone was home.

“I am really angry about it,” Miss Crimes, 21, of Holt Drive said.

“It feels like they shouldn’t be able to leave a tenant waiting like that.”

She added: “I have a young son, and it was very cold over the weekend, especially overnight.

“He was wearing two or three pairs of pyjamas and I have been bathing him in the sink using water warmed up from the kettle.”

A Colchester Borough Homes spokeswoman said it has a responsibility to attend calls such as Mrs Crimes’ within three working days between April 1 and October 31.

Between November 1 and March 31, the call must be responded to within 24 hours.

She added: “I can confirm that on October 1, the engineer was delayed at a previous job which meant they arrived late for Abigail Crimes’ appointment.

“Miss Crimes has been contacted and an appointment has been re-booked for today.”