ELDERLY residents living in retirement housing say that they have endured "freezing cold" due to a policy to turn their communal boiler off at night.

The Bolton at Homes facility on Davenport Road, Halliwell currently switches off its communal boiler between midnight and 5am.

However one resident, 74-year-old Philip McDougall, says that he is worried about the effect that nights with no heating will have on the residents, many of whom are frail and vulnerable.

He said "I woke up three weeks ago during the night and I thought it was pretty cold, so I tried to turn on the heating.

"I turned it up and nothing happened, I tried again and nothing happened so they sent engineers round and they said there was nothing they could do, the boiler was switched off!

Mr McDougall added: "I've been to hospital twice in the last four days with severe chest pains and I've had to sit up at night in the freezing cold because they've switched the heating off.

"I am now shivering and considering switching on my cooker oven to get warm."

He explained that the residents pay £9.75 per week for heating, even in the summer months and so feels that they should have heating whenever residents feel they need it.

Mr McDougall said: "There's an old lady next door but one, she's 84 and she can't get out of bed, it's terrible."

He has now complained to the council and to Age UK and is still looking for a resolution to the matter.

However, Bolton at Home say that the policy was put in place after consultations with customers some years ago and helps to keep their bills down.

Deputy group chief executive Noel Sharpe said: "Communal boilers have been in place in some sheltered housing schemes for many years and timed heating programmes were originally set up following discussions with customers.

"Most people in these properties don’t have their heating on overnight, so by turning the boiler off when it isn’t needed we can keep customers’ energy bills lower and protect the environment.

"We appreciate individual customers may have specific needs and in these cases we’ll work with them to identify what extra support we can offer."