HOW much is a life worth?

That the question a Hampshire councillor is asking after a Valley Park woman was offered just £50 compensation after a leaking gas boiler left her with carbon monoxide poisoning.

Test Valley Borough councillor Andrew Beesley has reported the landlord, Hyde, to the Housing Ombudsman after its failure to fix the boiler properly could have had “fatal consequences”.

Mum-of-two teenage children Nichola Lambert’s nightmare began in February when the boiler at her rented home in Chervil Close, broke down.

In the following weeks engineers from her landlord Hyde Housing paid a series of visits to repair the boiler, which continued to break down.

After one visit Miss Lambert, 36, noticed that she and her children were beginning to feel unwell.

“My son was having daily headaches and my daughter was feeling very drowsy and I was very sick and having dizzy spells at the time,” she told the Advertiser.

Realising something was seriously wrong, after smelling gas, Miss Lambert called in British Gas to investigate.

“The gas board attended and diagnosed that the gas valve that had been replaced was leaking and they had to shut my gas off,” confirmed Miss Lambert, who was handed a job sheet detailing the boiler’s faults.

When she took the matter up again with Hyde an official promised an engineer would look at the boiler again.

“I argued that it was Hyde’s negligence that had caused this and I would be taking this further if it was not resolved straight away,” said Miss Lambert, who was forced to take time off work to be at home when the engineer called again.

This time the engineer stripped the boiler down and discovered another problem with it in addition to the faulty valve. As in previous visits, the engineer told Miss Lambert he didn’t have replacement parts and would have to order them.

Still feeling unwell and, on the advice of British Gas, the worried mum went to Winchester’s Royal Hampshire County Hospital for a check-up. “I took myself and the children to the accident and emergency department to get checked out. I had a blood test which showed levels of carbon monoxide in my blood,” said Miss Lambert.

“They were not high but if we hadn’t smelt this gas and reported it, my children and I could have been a lot worse. The house could have blown up if a flame or spark had been caused in the kitchen.

Miss Lambert, who works as a payroll administrator for B&Q, said she put the blame firmly on Hyde which has since rectified all the faults with the boiler.

“The whole situation has been really distressing. I pay my rent each month and I expect to get a full and complete service when something is wrong. This has been very traumatic and I no longer have faith in Hyde due to this negligence,” said Miss Lambert.

During the boiler saga the Lamberts were often left for up to three days at a time without central heating and had to rely on two small electric heaters.

When she complained to her landlord Hyde Housing about it, Miss Lambert claims she was offered £50 compensation.

She refused to take the money and the matter has now been taken up by TVBC councillor Andrew Beesley.

“There was no sorry for the error or the fact that this could have cost my family and my life,” concluded a disgusted Miss Lambert.

Mr Beesley who has asked the Housing Ombudsman to look at Hyde’s handling of the case said: “The issue is that Hyde carried out a faulty repair to her boiler and it resulted in hospital checks and could have had more serious and possibly fatal consequences.

“It has been going on for several months now and I have referred the case to the Housing Ombudsman.”

He added: “I understand that Hyde has offered £50 compensation which doesn’t even cover the cost of the pay-as-you-go electric heaters which were used while it was all being sorted out. I believe this shows cavalier disregard for their (Hyde) customers.

“I am deeply concerned that whilst Hyde mention disciplinary action against the engiContinued on page 2 neer who caused the problem, Hyde do not explain how they intend to ensure it doesn’t happen again. Do they perhaps think that it doesn’t matter, because it will only cost the £50 and they can always dismiss the person responsible?”

Asked for a comment Hyde spokeswoman Ruth Appiah said: “These are quite serious allegations to be looked into and it will take some time.”