FRUSTRATIONS have boiled over for an Oakridge pensioner who was left with no hot water for seven days during some of the coldest temperatures of the year so far.

Brian Spencer, of Osborne Close, discovered there was a leak in one of the pipes coming from his water tank, which had damaged some of the floor boards and electrics in his house, on Tuesday last week.

He immediately contacted his housing association, VIVID, and a plumber came out later that day to see the 69-year-old, but they could not do the work at that point.

As a precaution, Mr Spencer turned off the water until a plumber came back which was not until Tuesday this week.

In the days of back and forth between plumbers and central heating services, the former construction worker was left without any hot water.

He said: “If I wanted to wash anything up I had to boil the kettle several times.

“I couldn’t have a bath or anything, and I struggle to walk sometimes, so I am not going to go carrying saucepans of boiling hot water up the stairs.”

Mr Spencer was told on Thursday, 8 February the work would be a 20-minute job to fix the leak, but the access point would have to be through one of the adjacent walls, which had to be signed off by VIVID.

He added: “The lack of communication has been ridiculous. I get told someone will be in touch but I never hear anything.

“I have had to wait in just in case the phone rings, but it’s been over a week for a 20-minute job.

“If they wanted to make a hole in a wall, what are they waiting for? I could do that for them.”

A spokesperson for VIVID said: “We apologise for the delay in resolving the issue. We appreciate that it took longer than it should have and understand the inconvenience it caused. A contractor visited the home today [Tuesday] and the job is progressing.”