A frustrated pensioner is forced to survive off milk cartons filled with water after a leak in his home. Harry Kruza, said he had to chop a hole in his wall after discovering a damp patch on the surface.
The 75 year-old, who lives on Edingley Avenue in Sherwood, said he is still unable to find the source of the water leak. However, he temporarily turns the water on to fill up four milk cartons with water.
"I have got about four cartons, so I fill them up and use the water to cook and make tea", Mr Kruza said. "I can take showers because they are different pipes."
READ MORE: Live updates as Nottingham city centre streets cordoned off by police after two men stabbed
It comes after Mr Kruza did not have gas for three days amid freezing temperatures. He added: "Due to major underground gas pipework being carried out by Cadent in my area, my gas was turned off from December 13 to December 15 - on the coldest days of this year.
"The temperature was minus 7 degrees. I has so many meals on microwave. It has just been a bit of a nightmare all around."
A spokesperson for Cadent has confirmed that a team restored Mr Kruza's gas supply as soon as they were contacted and able to gain access to the property. The pensioner however claims the water leak occurred once the gas was restored.
He added: "I have got heating back, and the heating is working okay because it is a closed circuit. It goes through the boiler and then back on itself. But it is when you do the washing , you turn on a hot tap and that does not work.
"When the gas was back on again, I noticed a damp patch on a kitchen wall and knew it was a water leak so had to remove a kitchen wall cupboard to open up the area to get to the suspected leak but am unable to see where it is. I am having to keep the water turned off at the mains - I have never had leaks since buying the house 12 years ago."
He said it has "all been a bit of a nightmare". "Due to Christmas and possibly many more people with water leaks, I have been unable to find anyone to trace and fix the leak", he said.
A spokesman for Cadent said: "As part of a 30-year programme to upgrade our older gas mains, our teams are working in many streets in Nottinghamshire. After we’ve installed the new main, we have to connect each property into it.
"To do that safely, we turn off the supply for a brief period. We give advance notice and support people with things like fan heaters and hot plates if they need them, for the time they are off gas. Gas is put back on the same day it goes off.
"This is what has happened in this street. There was a property where we had been unable to get access to restore supply. We made return visits and left information for how to contact us. As soon as we were contacted and able to gain access, we had a team restore supply the same day.”
READ MORE:
