VULNERABLE and elderly residents have been left freezing, suffering 22 days without heating.

The 15 residents in Spinnaker House, Hythe, were told their boilers had been condemned leaving them without central heating during one of the coldest times of the year.

Corinne MacTavish, 65, said she was furious that F&S Property Management, which is owned by Residential Management Group, had not fixed the issue.

The retired civil servant said she has been told the boiler is “badly corroded” and says there are no safety certificates in the block for residents to see. She said: “On November 23 they came out to do routine maintenance on the boilers but immediately condemned them.

“And there is no carbon monoxide detector or safety certificates posted in the building or in the boiler room.

“The state of the boilers are so badly corroded that they clearly haven’t been maintained properly.

“Tenants have also received strange gas bills with amounts ranging from £100 to £3,000.

“There clearly has been a problem with those boilers for a long time.”

Neighbour Vicky White is registered disabled with back problems and has been forced to move out of the flat to live with her father in Devon after the cold became too much to bear.

She said: “It’s painful. I couldn’t put up with the cold. I thought it would have been fixed by the time I came back but it hasn’t. Communications from the management company have been very sporadic.”

Hythe councillor Dan Poole said: “I’ve was told the residents were offered £50 to go and buy a heater.

“But some of these people don’t have £50 to spend. “These people are at risk of death. They are elderly and vulnerable”.”

He added that the problem had been reported to New Forest District Council and Hampshire County Council safeguarding officers.

A spokesperson for RMG said: “We are sorry that residents at Spinnaker House are experiencing issues with their heating, due to two communal boilers being decommissioned two weeks ago.

“As soon as the issue arose, we quickly contacted all residents and offered to reimburse the cost of temporary heaters while we undertook the tender process for replacing the heating system.

“We are pleased to have now completed this process and the work to replace the boilers is due to start on December 18.

“We expect this to be completed and full heating restored by December 22.

“We will continue to keep Spinnaker House residents regularly updated.”