A Kincaidston resident terrified of using her gas cooker since an explosion has been told she has a dangerous fitting underneath her home.
Gillian Hunter,48, was left so on edge by a devastating blast in the Ayr estate last October that she has only cooked with gas twice in seven months.
Now the traumatised law firm worker has been told she has a dangerous fitting holding together the main gas pipes in her home.
Gillian, supported by her sister Laura Hunter and niece spoke to Ayrshire Live outside her Thistle Walk home.
Gillian said: “I’ve only used the gas cooker twice in seven months since the explosion.
“It’s been a constant worry, you worry about turning the gas on, even switching the heating on you just think ‘it is about to go bang?’
“To now think I have a dangerous fitting underneath my home doesn’t help, it's a hidden danger you just don’t know.
“You’re putting your trust in these people to come out to replace your pipes and move meters out to try and provide reassurance, it's always just in the back of your mind.
“Now I’m left thinking to myself ‘have they even done it properly?’”
Gillian’s home had only been visited by engineers to fit new gas pipes four weeks ago as part of a major replacement project taking place in the Ayr estate.
The incident is the second on Thistle Walk after dad Steven McLaughlin who also lives on the street told how his newly installed meter had leaks.
But on Tuesday evening she frantically called gas firm SGN after coming home to the smell of gas in her home.
An engineer rushed out to her address but was unable to confirm a leak.
Instead they discovered an issue with the newly installed pipe under the floorboards with a compression fitting used — a type of screw which tightens pipes and is used for gas appliances in homes.
Gillian says the engineer was concerned that the fitting could ‘fall off’ and could become a potential danger in 10 to 15 years.
Gillian was handed a form which says the fault has been reported to the Health and Safety Executive as a RIDDOR (Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations.)
She claims the engineer said at the time that the fitting could potentially fall off from the vibrations of a washing machine.
Laura said: “In years to come if that did come loose then who is to say there won’t be another explosion.”
SGN bosses have swept aside claims that Gillian has a 'dangerous fitting'.
Instead they have said the fitting "was deemed ‘at risk’ due to the accessibility of its location."
But Ayrshire Live can reveal bosses told residents at a meeting the type of fitting used by contractors is not one SGN would use.
Now they plan on completely changing the fitting to provide reassurance to Gillian.
A spokesperson told Ayrshire Live: “The fitting is not dangerous and we use these regularly in our day-to-day work.”
They added: “Our investigations have so far found that there is no direct contravention of the relevant guidance, but in this instance we will be rectifying the fitting for the customer as our engineer has interpreted it as non-compliant.”
Gillian added: “What SGN are saying now, contradicts what we were initially told.”
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