A WINSFORD resident is urging people to get a proper gas safety check in time for winter after an engineer carried out work in his home which was so unsafe it could have caused an explosion.
Anaesthetic practitioner Tony Deyn unwittingly used an unregistered gas engineer – who has now been prosecuted.
Now Tony is urging others to make sure they use a registered engineer to carry out an annual gas check, especially important ahead of winter when households will be using more gas.
The NHS worker, 58, who works at Crewe’s Leighton Hospital, had a boiler replaced at his house in Winsford.
But the work was carried out by an engineer not on the official Gas Safe Register.
After weeks of leaks from his boiler in his family home in Winsford, Tony called out a registered engineer who found a series of faults – some of which could have led to a serious gas leak and explosion.
Tony said: “I believed the engineer who replaced our boiler was qualified.
“Unfortunately, that was not the case.
“We had a series of problems so got a registered engineer out to the house who was shocked at what he found.
“It seems we were fortunate there wasn’t a serious leak. Me, my family, even my neighbours, are lucky to be alive.
“I know the cost of living is going through the roof right now, but this is one area you can’t afford to cut corners on."
The contractor who carried out the original work at Tony’s house has since been prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
He was given a 40-week suspended sentence, 200 hours of community service and was ordered to pay costs of £5,263.
On inspection of the work carried out, five separate serious defects were found.
Any of these defects could have resulted in fatal consequences, from a gas explosion, carbon monoxide exposure or scalding.
HSE recommends homeowners get gas appliances, boilers, cookers, fires, flues, and pipework serviced every year by a qualified engineer listed on the Gas Safe Register - an official list of gas businesses registered to work on gas appliances.
Help is available for those struggling to pay for checks.
In some circumstances, suppliers can offer free gas safety checks through the Priority Services Register.
For further advice and information, homeowners can contact their gas supplier.
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