My husband could die unless housing bosses fix my fire

Philip Champken, of Drake Avenue, Dines Green, Worcester, has a defibrillator in his chest to regulate his heart rate.

But 56-year-old Mr Champken says his condition is getting worse because of the stress he has suffered since the fire broke last November.

The condition, called cardiomyopathy, puts him at risk of irregular heart rhythms or even sudden death. He has chest pains and has to go to hospital in Birmingham every six months for a check-up. The device in his chest administers electric shocks that keep his heart beating correctly.

His family has been without a gas fire since it was condemned by Worcester Community Housing because of a bent pipe.

The family says the downstairs rooms are still cold even with the central heating on, and the upstairs rooms are too hot for their three children Thomas, Helen and Liam.

Mr Champken who said: “I’m absolutely furious about it – my health is at risk.”

His wife Vanessa, aged 30, said: “I’m worried about my husband’s health. If the defibrillator shocks him once we have to call the hospital, twice we have been told to call an ambulance and more than three times we will have to call the undertaker.

“We went all through the winter with no fire and my husband was still cold with the heating on. Sometimes I shout downstairs, ‘Are you all right?” just to check on him. It’s very upsetting.”

Mrs Champken says she has called Worcester Community Housing 20 times this year but no one has fixed the fire yet.

A spokesman for Worcester Community Housing said: “The fire is an integral part of a back boiler system and we were unable to find a replacement pipe due to the age of the system. The central heating and hot water system was not affected by the disconnection of the fire.

“The tenant was advised that the back boiler and fire would be replaced as part of our planned investment programme for 2008/9.

“We expect the work to commence in the next month and the tenant has been advised accordingly.”