Greenock residents left freezing in homes with no heating

They are demanding action from landlords River Clyde Homes, who are now facing more criticism for the latest disaster, after hiking bills for the controversial bio mass system by 115 per cent.

Nearly 600 people were left with no heating or hot water for hours in the snow last Saturday and once the boiler was fixed it took another THREE hours for the heat to come back into all the homes.

Councillor Colin Jackson with Jade Dominick, her seven year-old daughter Lucy, and Lee ann with her daughter Savannah and Councillor Michael McCormick   (Image: George Munro)

People living in the area were hit with a double whammy when the payment system went down, leaving some residents unable to top-up when faced with plummeting temperatures when the snow fell on Saturday while the boiler was broken down.

 The Tele heard how a mum with a seven-week-old baby had to stay up all night to protect her baby from the cold, while another lady was cut off because she can't afford to pay. She was left with no hot water.

Bosses at Inverclyde 's largest social housing provider have been accused of failing to protect the most vulnerable residents.

Broomhill residents come together (Image: George Munro) Now the community is set to unite at a public meeting to demand that River Clyde Homes listens to their concerns about a heating system that is 'unreliable' and 'too expensive'.

Mum-of-one Jade Dominick, 37, who lives in Nile Street with daughter Lucy, said: "I asked River Clyde Homes for a heater and I am still waiting. It was absolutely freezing.

"All our kids were wanting to go out and play in the snow but we couldn't heat them up or give them warm water.

"My heating didn't come back on until 10pm on Saturday night. It is outrageous and it happens too often.

"We sometimes send our kids to school without baths and showers because the system isn't working.

"The payment system was down for weeks which meant that if you ran out at night you couldn't top-up.

"I am already paying £260 a month to heat my two bedroom flat.

"I can't afford it as it is, and it doesn't work. The heating system we had before this was brilliant and it was cheaper to run.

"If it wasn't for Councillor Colin Jackson we wouldn't know what to do. We were getting no information."

(Image: George Munro) Jade was joined by mum-of-three Lee Ann Dyles, 41, she said: "It was just shocking we were all freezing, our children were cold."

She added: "We are just so fed up with all the problems."

Among those impacted was vulnerable Karen Mullan, who has multiple health problems.

She said: "I haven't had hot water for a month. I can't afford heating so I turned it off. But then my hot water went off as well.

"River Clyde Homes sent out plumbers and engineers. It turned out I was cut off because I had run up £1,000 in standing charges that I still have to pay for.

"It was really bad at the weekend and I had no way of keeping warm."

Councillor Colin Jackson who has repeatedly taken on River Clyde Homes over the problems with the biomass boiler situation contacted senior management at the weekend to demand they intervene to help. 

He co-ordinated bids to get heaters to all those who needed it the most and tried to stay in contact with River Clyde Homes.

He said: "One of my biggest worries is that when the boiler broke down before I asked River Clyde Homes to set-up a vulnerable register list, but that has obviously not been updated or doesn't get used because they were not helped.

"In one a mum of three had to wrap her baby in blankets to keep her warm and then stayed up all night to watch the baby in case anything happened.

"The situation in Broomhill was so serious that River Clyde Homes was told it was a social protection issue.

"I sent an email to the chief executive and others to get in touch."

They are now demanding action from River Clyde Homes with the Broomhill Residents Association organising a public meeting on Monday night from 6.30pm.

River Clyde Homes management have been asked to attend along with ward councillors, Inverclyde MSP Stuart MacMillan, and MP Martin McCluskey.

A River Clyde Homes spokesperson said: “On Saturday, November 23 a power cut affected some areas of Greenock, including Broomhill. As a consequence of this, the biomass system needed to be reset.

"Engineers attended the site as an emergency priority on Saturday morning, but due to the complexity of the repair this took longer than initially anticipated.

"Heating and hot water were fully restored by 7.30pm, and we sincerely apologise to everyone affected.

"We have instructed our contractors to look at potential solutions to prevent a recurrence of this situation in the future."

They added: "Since the Biomass system was introduced in 2016, energy charges at Broomhill have been heavily subsidised and remained unchanged until November 2023, despite rises in fuel prices across global markets. Energy costs for Biomass Heating remain considerably lower than viable alternatives.

"A small number of customers have been affected by problems affecting the Pay-As-You-Go system, and our energy partner has assisted them with the available alternative payment options, including Payzone, Telephone Payments, Bank Transfer and Direct Debit.

"We would encourage anyone experiencing financial problems to contact our customer experience team on 01475 788887."