A YOUNG mother is furious with the council after she and her five-year-old son were left for three days without heating during a bitterly cold weekend.

Sheryl Wild, 23, of Mona Road, Blackburn, was woken early on Saturday by her son, Jordan, after he smelled gas coming from the kitchen.

She immediately contacted North West Gas who switched off the supply, but said that the leak was coming from the pipes and it was a job for the council.

Sheryl then telephoned Blackburn Council and a worker investigated, but told her that the pipes would need extensive work and they would only be able to deal with it first thing on Monday.

On Monday, no-one turned up and when Sheryl contacted the council again she was told that the matter had not been reported to them.

"I am absolutely furious," she said. "It was such a cold weekend and we had no heating and no cooking facilities.

"The man who first came left a heater but it didn't work. My parents are away and we had to keep eating out. I haven't even been able to have a bath.

"I had to send Jordan to his father's because it wasn't fair to keep him here."

The problem was eventually fixed by another council engineer who arrived on Monday afternoon and found that the leak was relatively simple to mend.

"I am disgusted that the problem wasn't sorted out on Saturday and I was put through all this," Sheryl added.

A spokesman for Blackburn council said: "When this was reported to us on Monday morning we began working on it and told her that an engineer would certainly be round within two hours. We thought that a great deal of re-piping work would be needed."

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