Last updated 08:24, Tuesday, 17 June 2008

A PENSIONER was forced to survive without hot water or heating for over a week after an energy company left her without any gas.

United Utilities paid 78-year-old Esther Corbett a call at her West Shore Park home on May 29 to fit a new gas meter.

Little did she know this would be the start of a saga which would see her without any central heating or hot water.

The United Utilities engineer arrived at 2pm and started by turning off the gas supply so he could fit her new metre.

The job only took half-an-hour but the trouble started after the engineer came to turn the gas back on.

Mrs Corbett said: “He came back in and couldn’t get the ignition for the gas and central heating.

“He said ‘I’m sorry but there’s nothing I can do. You can phone the boss’.”

Mrs Corbett phoned United Utilities and says she was told if she could prove it was the engineer’s fault then the firm would pay for the damage.

The engineer then left Mrs Corbett without any gas at all.

She phoned a private heating firm in Barrow who came to assess the situation but were only able to fit a new part last Friday.

Mrs Corbett says the episode has upset her and made her determined to switch to another gas provider.

She said: “It was fine. There wasn’t anything wrong with it until United Utilities came.

“I am shattered. It really upset me. I was crying because I did not know what to do.

“I have just been boiling water all the time and washing up at night time.

“It’s like the olden days. I am going to change company.”

Luckily Mrs Corbett was able to rely on her daughter Janette Taylor for support. She told the Action Desk she was very unhappy with the way United Utilities treated her mother.

She said: “What if it was an old lady on her own, who didn’t have anyone? I am disgusted.”

Action Desk contacted United Utilities which said: “Mrs Corbett’s gas meter was installed safely and correctly.

“When the gas was reconnected, however, her boiler would not relight.

“We advised Mrs Corbett to contact a Corgi registered engineer, in case there was an underlying problem with the boiler.

“Unfortunately, our engineers are simply not authorised to carry out repairs on domestic gas appliances when fitting meters.

“We hope this customer has now managed to get the issue resolved.”