A mum is urging people to install carbon monoxide detectors in their homes after one of them saved her baby’s life.

A faulty boiler leaked the poisonous gas into their home and could have resulted in tragedy if it hadn’t been for the simple device she had in her home.

Louise Tartaglia fears her baby, Francesca, might never have woken up because of the fumes, which were only picked up when the new detector gave an “off the scale” reading at their Cottingley home.

The 39-year-old was alerted when the device was activated in March this year, just yards from the bedroom of seven-month-old Francesca.

A British Gas service engineer was called, and the carbon monoxide (CO) gas was found to be leaking through seals around her Valliant boiler.

Now Mrs Tartaglia is calling on other residents to be aware of the dangers of the gas known as ‘the silent killer’ She said: “It was very frightening, if you think about the possible consequences. Basically, my daughter was asleep and may never have woken up again. And she says British Gas should have detected the fault when they were due to service the boiler in January. Instead, the company had postponed the service until March 26 – five days after the carbon monoxide was detected.

“I am very annoyed with British Gas. If they had come in January when they were supposed to, they would have replaced the parts. That should have been done. The company has given me £30 compensation, but it is not about money.

“I am still not happy with British Gas. They have basically washed their hands of it and referred me to the boiler company, which I personally don’t agree with. I am paying British Gas to service my boiler and I think if anything goes wrong, it is the company’s responsibility for fixing it in liaison with the manufacturer.”

In a letter to Mrs Tartaglia, British Gas said it had met its obligation to carry out the inspection once a year but agreed “delays between the inspections are not within the spirit of the agreement”.

A spokesman said: “We are acutely aware of the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning and we are fully committed to ensuring the safety of all of our customers.

“We of course recommend that all of our customers have annual inspections of their central heating systems, which was carried out in Mrs Tartaglia’s case. As a further safety measure, however, we also recommend installation of a CO detector with an alarm which conforms to European standards.”

Mrs Tartaglia’s warning comes after recent research showed Yorkshire to have more incidents of carbon monoxide poisoning than other areas. The “Wake Up Campaign” was launched in June last year to highlight the dangers of smoke inhalation and carbon monoxide poisoning.

e-mail: mel.fairhurst @telegraphandargus.co.uk