Flats complain of hot water issues for five months

Residents living in a tower block have said they suffered heating and hot water issues for five months after the council installed temporary boilers outside.

People living in the top floors of St James's House in Brighton said they had problems with heating and water pressure after the boiler system was moved outside from the basement in July.

It was moved because Brighton & Hove City Council identified the block as not meeting standards in terms of its ability to resist collapsing in the event of an explosion or large fire.

The council has apologised to residents and said the problems have now been fixed.

Temporary boilers were placed outside after an assessment because the current communal gas boiler in the basement was deemed a risk in the event of a collapse.

The bin stores have also been moved outside from underneath the flats.

Resident Ray Fletcher, 81, told BBC Radio Sussex: "It has been terrible, it's going out of my direct debit every week.

"Four months ago they decided to take the centralised gas boilers out of the car park because they were frightened of an explosion.

"They worked perfectly well for 30 years. Now it's all in the car park and taken the spaces away."

Some residents told the BBC they also had problems but they were fixed on Monday.

Councillor Gill Williams, cabinet member for housing and new homes, said: "We would like to apologise to each of the residents impacted by this issue.

"After moving the building's gas heating plant in July, some residents were unfortunately left without access to the communal heating system.

"Work to restore heating and hot water to all affected homes has now been completed.

The councillor thanked residents for their "patience and understanding".

The block is one of eight across the city which do not meet modern safety standards.

Following the safety inspections earlier this year, temporary regulations were put in place including bans on e-bikes and vehicles parking underneath the eight blocks - which are in Hollingdean, Whitehawk and Kemptown.

The blocks were all built using a popular building method in the 1950s and 1960s which used precast concrete panel walls.