No hot water for six months

Since Wayne Nobbs and Clarissa Smith moved into their one-bedroom council flat in Lancing Court, Whitehawk, in August last year, they have only had enough hot water for a sink of washing-up.

Clarissa, 18, said: "We have had to get a bus or taxi to my parents' house in Woodingdean whenever we want a bath. This meant taking our one-year-old daughter, Chelsea, out in the cold. We didn't even have enough hot water to bath her if we'd done the washing-up in the morning. We just couldn't live like that anymore. It's been so upsetting."

The couple say they complained to Brighton and Hove City Council when they moved in but were told nothing could be done.

Wayne, 20, an apprentice tiler, said: "We phoned the council about twice a week, sent letters and I even went down there. "Two people came to change the element in the heater but still it didn't work properly. The manager of maintenance told us the heater would cost too much to replace.

"As well as having no hot water, there is only one gas fire to heat the whole flat. It is absolutely freezing and Chelsea keeps getting ill. She has to sleep in with us because it's so cold. Chelsea has the measles at the moment, so Clarissa has been sleeping with her on the living-room floor in front of the fire.

"We just didn't know where to turn next. We could not live in those conditions without hot water for any longer."

The heater was run on an Economy 7 system which heats water cheaply in the night, so after a sinkful is used in the morning there is no more hot water until the following day.

Other residents have reported a similar problem.

When Karen Crosskey, 22, of Lancing Court, and her husband John, 22, moved into their one-bedroom flat in December 1999, they also had little hot water.

Mrs Crosskey said: "We didn't even have enough to fill up a sink.

"Every time we wanted to bath our son, Jack, who was only eight weeks old at the time, we had to take him to my mother's house. My husband couldn't even have a shower when he got home from work.

After two months of inadequate hot water, the family discovered the problem was due to having only Economy 7.

A council spokesperson said: "The problem with Mr Nobbs' heater has been that while it heats up with Economy 7 during the night, there has been no way of getting more hot water during the day.

"So we are installing a new power supply to give them the option of standard tariff water heating during the day. We're sorry for the inconvenience caused."