AS priority cases go, it is hard to think of anyone who could be more in need of urgent help.

But an 87-year-old Hampshire war veteran with a chronic chest infection, who is the main carer for his severely disabled wife, is facing a freezing new year after being told he could have to wait six months for a new boiler.

Cyril Hicks and his 85-year-old wife Maddie, who is paraplegic and suffers from Alzheimer's disease, have already been without central heating since September, when their old boiler packed up.

Warm Front, a Government-funded body designed to help vulnerable people keep warm has agreed they are entitled to a grant to help them replace it, but says their new heating system can't be installed until March.

Priority list The couple have been told to be patient "because there are people with priority who need our attention first".

As temperatures plummet, particularly at night, the Hicks have been forced to abandon the first floor of their home in Margarita Road, Fareham, because it is simply too cold to use.

And they are facing rocketing electricity bills as they struggle to warm the ground floor with electric heaters, leaving cords lying across the floor.

"We've no central heating whatsoever," said Cyril, who fought across Europe during the Second World War after landing in France just six days after D-Day.

"My problem is that when I go from one room to another the temperature is totally different and it immediately sets my chest off.

"Fluctuations of the weather can make it so severe, and this weather at the moment is very bad for it."

After an initial assessment confirmed their whole heating system needed replacing, Cyril was told a local contractor would carry it out as soon as possible.

But months after signing the agreements nothing has happened and, disgusted at the lack of progress, the Royal British Legion has stepped in.

County manager Colonel Shane Hearn is so angry at the Hicks' treatment he has personally intervened to try to get their application speeded up.

A Warm Front spokesman said the scheme helps thousands of people each day, who are all vulnerable.

He added that the winter months are naturally their busiest period.

"The Hicks are clearly in need and we will do everything we can within reason to speed up the installation of their new boiler," he said.