BRITISH Gas has apologised to a customer who froze in her home for a week after a series of cancelled appointments and fruitless visits by engineers.

Fionula Murphy, 54, of Lewins Way says her chilly nightmare began on Monday last week when an engineer came to do a safety check.

She says problems began straight after when she found the gas did not work.

As the weather got colder so did the situation.

Mrs Murphy says she suffered through with layers and a hot water bottle while engineers came Wednesday, Thursday and Friday - all unable to fix the problem.

She said: “One day I went to work and couldn’t stop crying so had to come home again I was so stressed.”

She says her 18 year old son went to stay with his girlfriend to escape the cold and her kind landlady paid for her to spend two nights in a hotel. By Saturday night she was at the end of her tether.

“At 9pm I called to complain and again they said an engineer would come between 10pm and 6am. I waited and dozed in my car for ages then went to a friend to warm up. No engineer turned up.”

An engineer finally came and fixed the problem with the gas but cut through an electric wire which led to her cooker.

Finally on Wednesday everything was back to normal, after nine days.

A British Gas spokesperson said: “We’ve completed the necessary repairs at Mrs Murphy’s property to the internal gas pipework and also the cooker cable, which was unfortunately damaged during the repair.

“We have been in touch with Mrs Murphy to apologise for the inconvenience caused and to discuss a goodwill gesture - we understand that she is happy with the subsequent actions.”