A VULNERABLE pensioner is facing a weekend without any heating following problems fixing her faulty gas meter which have dragged on for four weeks.

Barbara Rushworth, who is 76, lives alone and is deaf, is facing this weekend with just a small electric fan heater to keep warm due to the problems.

Her home in Holme Wood is fitted with a British Gas smart meter which has been faulty for four weeks; the meter was installed to make topping up her gas easier but the problems have left her worried about running out of credit and being unable to heat her home.

Daughter-in-law Sandra Jones, who lives in Clayton, said she has been ringing British Gas on Barbara's behalf for three weeks to try and sort the issue, with the meter having to be manually topped up in the meantime.

The issues came to a head this week when Barbara faced running out of gas on Friday, meaning she would have no heating, hot water, or be able to use her hob.

After weeks with no luck, Ms Jones came to the Telegraph & Argus as a "last resort" after being unable to resolve the issue with British Gas.

An engineer visited on Friday after the problem was unable to be resolved remotely, but the gas had to be capped off, and is set to be fixed today (Saturday).

However, Ms Jones said, she will then have to send for a new meter card which could take up to three days, leaving Barbara with just £5 credit which she said "will barely last for a day".

She said: "I've been through this for weeks and they were meant to be dealing with it but nothing happened.

"I asked to speak to the manager and was just ignored, and I will be putting in a formal complaint.

"She is vulnerable, she's deaf and she never leaves the house, she shouldn't be left with no heating.

"After I contacted the T&A they couldn't be more apologetic and said they'd fix it in 48 hours, but in 48 hours she won't have any gas.

"We just want a card meter to make things easier for her, so her son can go put credit on for her."

Speaking before the engineer visit on Friday, a British Gas spokesperson said: "We’ve been in touch to reassure that we’ll have this sorted for Mrs Rushworth.

"We do believe we can apply a remote fix on her meter which we’re working on now, but we also have an engineer on standby so we can get this resolved before she runs out of credit."

While unable to deal with British Gas directly, an Incommunities spokesperson said they would offer support to Barbara.

She said: "The local neighbourhood housing officer will visit Ms Rushworth to offer further assistance with contacting British Gas and will be able to refer to our Money Matters service for support with obtaining a meter top-up if necessary.

"Although the home is owned by Incommunities, the supplier British Gas is responsible for ensuring the meter works properly."