An elderly widow from Coventry has been left in the cold after her central heating broke for the fourteenth time in three years.
Renee Quist, 78, is being forced to live with her oven door constantly open in her home, owned by housing association Midland Heart.
The great grandmother is worried for her health after being left without heat again at her sheltered accommodation just as the cold weather begins to bite.
The latest breakdown had seen tearful Renee without heat for two days at her flat in St Thomas Court, Gordon Street, when she spoke to the Telegraph.
“I’ve reported it to them and I’ve been calling them ever since it broke down,” she said.
“I keep asking if they are on their way and they always say ‘someone will come’.
“The radiators are giving cold air out. I go to bed with jumpers, a hot water bottle and I sleep with my dog to keep warm – but it’s not enough. It was freezing this morning. I just sit here shivering.”
Local personality Renee is well-known in the city centre with shopkeepers and market traders, usually seen with her white poodle Leo.
Renee has to sit on the floor because of a back condition – badly injured when she fell down the stairs 13 years ago.
The fall left her with a broken collar bone, eight broken ribs and metal plates in her arm. She has been told by her doctor the injuries mean she must keep her bones and joints warm but now has to sit on a cold floor each day.
Concerned neighbour Tony Oliver contacted the Telegraph after finding Renee with her gas cooker left on in an attempt to heat the flat.
“Renee’s a well-known figure but she’s very frail and this is just appalling,” he said. “With all the rent increases and in this day an age, for a woman Renee’s age to be without heat is just not tolerable at this time of year. Midland Heart? No Heart is more like it.”
Richard Chapman, head of property services at Midland Heart, said: “We offer our sincere apologies and can give assurances that we are working with our customer to ensure the heating is repaired. We will be carrying out a full investigation of the current system and take necessary action to resolve any other issues.”
The heating was expected to be repaired on Saturday.
Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2011 3:04 pm