A MARLBOROUGH family are fuming after being left without hot water since New Year’s Day because of a fault with their boiler.

Philip and Lynda Miles, and their 21-year-old son Ashley, of Franklyn Acre, have been battling to get their boiler fixed for almost a month and are still waiting for the correct part to be delivered.

The couple contacted Aster Property, the housing association they rent their home from, on January 2. An engineer was sent over to assess the problem the same day but was unable to resolve the issue.

Mr Miles, 54, said: “We’re absolutely disgusted with the service we are getting. We’ve rented from Aster for 20 years and we’ve never had a problem before.

“When the part finally came nine days later on the Friday, we were told the circuit board was playing up and needed replacing.

“They rang on the Monday to say they were coming the next day, and then on the Tuesday they rang up to say the wrong part had been delivered.

“Then we were told they were coming on January 17 between 9am and 11am. No-one turned up.”

The family are now seeking compensation after being forced to boil water in pans and their kettle so they can do the washing up.

Mr Miles said: “We have a shower but we can’t use the bath at all.

“I’m a postman so I can deal with the cold better than Lyn, but she has rheumatoid arthritis and she likes to take a hot bath because it helps with that.”

Mrs Miles, 58, said: “When we want to wash in the evenings, we have to carry boiling water upstairs to the bathroom.

“The two men who have come out to look at the boiler have said they’ve never seen a boiler like it before.”

A spokesman from Aster apologised to the Miles family. He said: “Our customers are at the heart of everything we do and we’re always sorry to hear about any of them experiencing problems. The length of time this repair has taken to complete is unacceptable and we’d like to apologise for this.

“We’re working closely with our specialist heating contractor to find out what has caused this delay. We’ll do everything we can to ensure the necessary repairs are completed as swiftly as possible. We’d like to say sorry again to our customers for the inconvenience this has caused.”