A MUM from Ronkswood has been left with no heating for seven days after her boiler broke down.

Heather Russell, 44, has had no hot water or central heating for a week, despite reporting her broken boiler to her housing association.

Miss Russell, of Liverpool Road, said: “I phoned Rooftop on Tuesday when the boiler broke and they sent someone out that night. I was then told that they wouldn’t be able to get it up and running because they had to order some parts.”

“I was expecting it to be sorted by the next day, but here we are a week later still sat in the cold.”

Miss Russell was given two electric heaters by Rooftop but was warned that there have been cases of the heaters exploding.

“The engineer said not to leave them on for more than three hours as they would overheat. Then he told me not to use them with extension leads as they have been known to explode!”

“It is not ideal; two heaters will not heat a three-bedroom house, and they cost so much to run. I spent £15 on electric in two days because of them, I can’t afford that, so we have had to turn them off.”

Miss Russell lives with her son Kyle Glisson, 21 and daughter Lily Davies-Griffiths, 12, and says the whole family have suffered as a result of having no central heating in the dead of winter.

The worried mother said: “I think it’s disgusting that at this time of year we have been left this long with no hot water or anything.

“The house is freezing. I have to boil the kettle to wash up and fill the bath. I can’t even wash our clothes because they will never dry. It's only a matter of time before one of us becomes really ill.”

A spokesperson for Rooftop said: “Our out-of-hours repairs line was called on Tuesday evening and an operative went out that night. They inspected the boiler, found the fault, and parts have been ordered.

"However, as anyone with a boiler will know, parts sometimes take longer than we would wish. Standard practice is that we always offer temporary heaters if a boiler is not working so that our customers still have heating in their homes.

“The part is on its way and the repair is booked in for first thing on Wednesday. If the parts get to us sooner, the repair will carried out sooner.

"It is always unpleasant to be left without heating in the winter. All of our boilers are serviced every year, but breakdowns still happen.”