A MOTHER-OF-TWO and her family were left without hot water for days after a dispute with their water company.

Claire Wilkes, 41, from Station Road in Sible Hedingham, had low water pressure in her home and called Anglian Water in to fix the problem back in April.

On repairing the boiler, Mrs Wilkes says sand was allowed to fall into the water and caused irreversible damage to the PCB control unit, leaving her and her family without hot water.

She said: “It has been on and off since April and they couldn’t seem to understand why I am not willing to wait any longer.

“They have been out several times. I have had engineers not turn up for appointments and they have sent me wrong types of engineers.

“It has got to have been going on for at least six attempts.

“I have lost count of how many times they have been round.”

Unwilling to wait any longer, Mrs Wilkes paid for the repairs out of her own pocket, costing her £380.

She said: “If they had done the simple checks like I was asking for they would have found what was causing the problem.

“I’ve now got to send them proof it was their fault.

“I’m absolutely disgusted with the way I’ve been treated.”

An Anglian Water spokesman said: “We carried out a repair on Ms Wilkes’ boiler after a water leak was thought to have caused a problem with her boiler. After our repair the boiler was left in full working order.

“Since then, we have sent further engineers out to help Mrs Wilkes, as well as offering alternative accommodation and providing compensation to cover her costs and as a gesture of goodwill.

“We have also explained that if any further issues with the boiler are found to be a direct result of our initial work, then we will cover the cost of the repairs too.

“We would like to apologise to Mrs Wilkes for any inconvenience caused and confirm we are doing everything we can to resolve the issue.”