A Barnes woman in social housing says she has had to endure having no boiler during two of the coldest months of the year.

Debbie Warren, 56, who lives in Alderbury Road, has been wearing her coat and hat indoors as temperatures dropped to freezing.

According to Mrs Warren, her boiler broke down on January 2 and was written off, but Richmond Housing Partnership failed to get it fixed, citing reasons such as "the gas man is on holiday" or it is "waiting for a part".

Meanwhile, Mrs Warren said she has been left with ice-cold water and expensive-to-run electric heaters.

Mrs Warren, who is disabled and lives alone, said: “All I’ve been doing is trying to have a strip-wash by boiling water in the kettle but it’s really hard. I have got sciatica and I really feel the cold, I’ve got arthritis in both my hands too.

“I have had to stay in bed to keep warm, but I can feel the cold on my face. I haven’t been downstairs for a couple of days now.”

Mrs Warren said repairs were scheduled for January 20, but nobody showed.

She added there was an assessment on February 8, with work scheduled for February 12, but again nobody turned up.

On its homepage RHP says: “Book repairs online in a jiffy - it’s as easy as pie!”

Mrs Warren said: “They are not interested. I don’t think they take me seriously. I asked them ‘How many times have you returned my calls?’ and the woman on the phone said she’d have to speak to her manager, then she said there’s an admin fee of £10 for that information.

“It’s the first time I’ve spoken out – I’m not really a moaner but I’m feeling really low.”

Mrs Warren said she was given one electric heater by RHP, but realised they consume huge amounts of energy and would cause her electricity usage to spike.

A spokesman for RHP said: “We’re very sorry to hear of Mrs Warren’s experience. Our first priority is, and always will be, our customers’ safety and wellbeing.

“Unfortunately, this has been difficult to fix and is resulting in us having to replace the whole boiler. We’re working hard to make sure this happens as soon as possible to limit any further inconvenience."

The boiler is now scheduled to be replaced next Thursday, March 1.