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Family saved from poison gas threat
PAUL and Sarah Adams say they have a British Gas engineer to thank for saving their lives and those of their four children.
The couple called in the company to set up a home servicing plan.
When engineer Andrew Crofton made the routine call to their home at Slade, Ilfracombe, he discovered two gas leaks and dangerously high carbon monoxide levels.
Paul said they had been planning to take out a service plan for some time, but with busy lives and four children to support there were always other priorities and other bills to meet.
Then Paul started to feel sick and suffer headaches.
He and Sarah had to sleep in the living room of their flat as their children had the bedrooms.
When Andrew called in response to their inquiry he found two gas leaks and a carbon monoxide reading that was "off the scale."
The problem was traced to the living room fire. The fire was fine, but the boiler behind it had become choked with carbon, said Andrew
This was the result of insufficient ventilation and a lack of regular servicing, he said. He described the situation in the flat as "very dangerous."
Paul told the Gazette: "I was shocked to see how bad it was.
"There were no signs on the fire; you couldn't see that it was dangerous. You don't think about it. With other things to pay for, you think that if something isn't broken you cannot afford to pay out. There must be many other people in the same situation.
"We bought a carbon monoxide detector. It said to position it 150cm down from the ceiling, so I put it on the bookshelf. But it didn't go off.
"Now I have learned that it was in the wrong position
"Our kids could have woken up one day and found that we were not here," he said.
Sarah told the Gazette that when she heard how bad the situation was she just broke down and cried.
"To think that by putting off buying a service plan we had been putting our kids and ourselves at risk. It really upset me," she said.
"We may be thought of as na*ve or silly, but now we just want to urge other people to realise how important it is to have their appliances checked regularly."
Andrew's manager, Paul Tobin, said he ahd three main pieces of advice:
- Have gas appliances serviced annually.
- Fit a carbon monoxide detector, following closely the manufacturer's instructions and test them regularly
- Ensure sufficient ventilation for gas appliances.
Sent: 17/04/2008
Email us direct at: repairs@londonheatingservices.co.uk
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