Hayley’s been in the cold for over a week

Jan 24 2008 by David Himelfield, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Hayley’s been in the cold for over a week

A SINGLE mother was left in the cold after a gas supplier left her without heating.

Mother-of-two Hayley Jackson, 24, from Flockton, has been without gas since Sunday, January 13, when the supply suddenly failed.

And she says supplier NPower told her they would reconnect her council house on Tuesday this week, but did not turn up.

Miss Jackson, who is on income support, says an engineer came on January 14 but could not reconnect the supply because the firm said her meter had been tampered with.

Hayley has been relying on friends and family to cook meals and bathe her sons Kyle, five, and Dayne, three.

She said: “An engineer came round and said he couldn’t touch the meter.

“He said I’d have to pay for a new one because someone had been tampering with it.

“Unless it got knocked when the council fitted a new floor I don’t know how it happened. I’m not going to mess with my gas supply when I’ve got two kids.

“It’s freezing in the morning and I’ve had to take the kids to their dad’s house.

“I’m having to rely on everyone else.

“The council have said they’ll drop off electric heaters, but they eat electricity.

“It’s disgusting, especially when there’s kids involved. I don’t think NPower employees would like their children left in the cold.

“NPower said they sent someone on Thursday, but they didn’t.

“When the meter’s played up before they’ve been helpful, so I can’t understand why they say I’ve been tampering with it.’’

An NPower spokeswoman said: “On January 14 Hayley called us and we booked an appointment for the same day, when the National Grid engineer found the meter front was loose and suspected that it had been tampered with.

“He left the property and told our Revenue Protection department, who deal with suspected tampering.

“On January 15 Revenue Protection called Hayley and left a message on her voicemail for her to call them.

“In the meantime a new appointment was booked by us for Tuesday this week to make sure she was back on supply, regardless of whether tampering had taken place.

“On January 16 Hayley contacted us to ask if the appointment could be brought forward. This was rebooked for the 17th, for between 8am to 1pm.

“On January 17 a National Grid engineer called at her property at 11.42 and reported back at 11.42 to say there was no access to the property.

“Hayley disputes this and says she was at home all morning, but National Grid say there was nobody in when they called. We rebooked an appointment for her for Tuesday this week.

The spokeswoman said NPower believed the meter had been tampered with.

Hayley contacted the Examiner when the National Grid engineers failed to turn up on Tuesday.

They have now pledged to go the house today.