A Rossendale man and his cat have been left without heating and hot water for more than two months after his boiler broke down.

Roger Shand, 63, of Joe Connolly Way, Waterfoot, has waited for his broken boiler and leakage to be fixed since he first reported the issue on October 15, when his heating started going on and off and the water would only run cold.

Regenda Homes, the housing association that manages the house, uses M&Y Maintenance and Construction to carry out repairs on their properties.

Mr Shand was told the contractors would fix his boiler on Thursday, December 22, between 12pm and 5pm, and he waited in but no one had turned up.

He then went out, and when Mr Shand arrived back, a note timestamped at 5.45pm said they couldn’t fix the boiler as no one was in, so would return on January 3.

Mr Shand said: “I waited in all day for someone to come and fix it but no one did.

"When I got back, they left a note, but they came after the hours they scheduled themselves. It’s ridiculous.

“I’m up at 3am every morning because I start work at 6am.

"I can’t afford to not go into work to wait for them to go in because I’m on a temporary contract, I’d lose my job.”

Over the past few weeks, Mr Shand says he has been staying with a friend, because his house is so ‘freezing’ – which has been made even worse by the severe weather conditions that has caused temperatures to plummet.

Mr Shand added: “I’m going to have to go back on Monday (January 2) to be there for when they arrive to fix it which means I’m going to have to use a big saucepan to heat water in the morning, because I just can’t take time off.”

Mr Shand said he has regularly been visiting his home while he has been staying at a friend’s house to feed his cat and make sure she’s okay.

In addition to the broken boiler, Mr Shand said that M&Y Maintenance and Contractors are supposed to provide garden care services however he has been cutting the grass, weeding, and clearing moss himself.

Mr Shand pays £109.15 rent per week and is ‘angry’ he has been forced to leave his flat because of the ‘uninhabitable’ living conditions and has reported the situation to the Housing Ombudsman.

He said: “I know Regenda have seen my emails to them, they’re fully aware of the problem but still nothing has been done. I’ve been left with no choice but to go to the Ombudsman.”

Since speaking to Mr Shand and getting in contact with Regenda Homes, Mr Shand's boiler was fixed on Saturday, December 31.

A spokesperson for Regenda Homes said: "We have been in touch with the customer and rectified the outstanding repairs to the boiler. The safety and security of our homes is our main priority and we will continue to work with our customers to understand how we can improve our services going forward."