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CHRISTMAS IN THE COLD

I’m a mum – my son has cancer and we were left freezing with no heating for a week

A MUM and her cancer-stricken son were left without heating for a week as temperatures dropped below zero.

Stacey Allen, 39, and her two kids were left unable to heat their home in Paisley after the boiler failed as Scotland was plunged into a cold spell in December.

Stacey Allen with her son Jack
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Stacey Allen with her son JackCredit: John Kirkby
They were left without heating over the Christmas period
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They were left without heating over the Christmas periodCredit: John Kirkby
The freezing family had to sleep with their housecoats on
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The freezing family had to sleep with their housecoats onCredit: John Kirkby

Pregnant Rachele, 20, and Jack, 7, who is in remission from neuroblastoma, were left huddling in a single room as temperatures dropped to around -1C in December.

Despite engineers fixing the problem once the family were caught in a running battle with Renfrewshire Council and Scottish Power and were forced to heat their three-bedroom home with electric fan heaters as they tucked into their Christmas dinner.

Stacey said: “ We’ve slept with our housecoats on and we’ve had to put covers over the duvets.

“You could see your own breath it’s that cold.”

Mum Stacey called Renfrewshire Council after her boiler stopped working during the brutal cold snap that hit Scotland last month.

She and her family were caught between the council and her energy supplier as she pleaded for someone to fix her heating.

Council engineers made a quick fix when they were called out in early December but had to return two weeks later when the heating broke again.

Stacey claimed she was told this was due to a water-damaged meter that had to be fixed by Scottish Power.

Amid a mix-up with contact details, an engineer from the energy company couldn’t come out to fix it and the family spent Christmas in the cold.

After being contacted by the Scottish Sun, Scottish Power sent out an engineer who then told Stacey it wasn’t an issue for them and that the council needed to fix her boiler and gave her another heater.

She feared for her son Jack, who was diagnosed with the disease when he was a baby, in the cold saying: “It’s putting his health at risk.

“It’s ridiculous, we were being passed from pillar to post.”

Stacey then told how council engineers arrived the next morning and fitted a new boiler.

She said: “I’m glad it’s fixed but it’s a shame I had to go to the papers to get it sorted.”

A Renfrewshire Council spokesperson said: “The health and wellbeing of our tenants is imperative.

“Our emergency repairs team have been working flat out to resolve issues with central heating and water supplies caused by the prolonged spell of sub-zero temperatures.

“We understand this is a difficult situation for Ms Allen and her family and our housing service is continuing to work with her to resolve the heating issues at her home as soon as possible. Temporary heaters were offered as part of our support, but the tenant already had her own in place.”

A spokeswoman for ScottishPower said: “Our engineers tried several times to contact Ms Allen to visit the property but got no response.

“Once we were able to make contact we had an engineer there within the hour who confirmed her meter was working properly and it was an ongoing issue with her boiler.

“They provided electric heating to support the family whilst they waited on their housing provider to resolve the issue.”

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