A disabled man was left without a cooker over the festive period after oven wiring went up in smoke.

James Evans, 35, who lives in a council bungalow in Lockwood, blames council officials.

James reported a faulty electrical socket to Kirklees Neighbourhood Housing (KNH) and had it repaired a week before Christmas.

James, who has hip displacement and a curved and twisted spine, says he was told by the engineer not to switch off his cooker, and leave it until workmen returned to plaster around the new socket.

But last Saturday, before work could be carried out, wiring inside the back of the cooker burnt out.

James now fears his electric cooker is beyond repair.

“If it was my fault I would replace the cooker but it wasn’t,” said James.

“The engineer who came said under no circumstances should I turn the cooker off which I would normally do.

“They were due to come and do the plastering and tiling on the Monday after Christmas but on Saturday the cooker went up in smoke.

The burnt electrical connections on the back of James Evans' cooker.
The burnt electrical connections on the back of James Evans' cooker.

“I took the back off and all the wiring was burned out.”

James, who lives alone and struggles to walk and stand because of his disabilities, bought the cooker second-hand two years ago.

Over the last few days he has had to rely on a two-ring cooker provided by KNH.

Only one ring works.

“I wanted to cook a big roast dinner for New Year but I can’t do that on one ring,” he said.

James moved into the bungalow in August and has had problems with condensation and mould.

“It makes me wonder whether the condensation has got into the wiring,” said James.

In a statement Mrs Christine Gummerson, head of neighbourhood services for KNH, said Kirklees Council’s Building Services re-wired the cable from the cooker switch to the outlet over two days, December 17 and 18.

KNH received another call on Saturday and an electrician attended. The problem was an internal cable within the cooker and not part of the earlier repair.

James was offered a microwave but refused it. He later asked for – and was given – a Baby Belling cooker.

Mrs Gummerson added: “Cookers are the responsibility of the tenant and in this case it is unfortunate that the cable that burnt is part of the cooker itself.

“I have asked for a housing officer to visit Mr Evans to see what further assistance we can offer him.”