A CALNE woman, who has been living without hot water for six weeks, says she feels abandoned by her housing agency after they told her they would not fix the problem as her flat stinks.

Mary Cunningham-Simpson, of Page Close, informed her agency GreenSquare of a leak in her boiler six weeks ago but says they fobbed her off telling her it was a matter for boiler installers Ultra-Warm, who themselves passed the complaint back to GreenSquare saying they could not deal with it.

Ms Cunningham-Simpson, who lives with her 14 cats, was later told that staff would not come out to the premises from either company as it was dirty and not suitable for work to be carried out.

She said: “I have had no hot water for weeks. It is terrible and is getting impossible to live here.

“I do not know what to do. The boiler played up and leaked everywhere and we had a massive leak into the lounge.

“The last time that they came out was about five weeks ago. I am going through an awful time of it and I do not know where to turn, I really do not.

“I was thinking of killing myself yesterday but I decided not to do it because, who would look after my cats.

“GreenSquare have backed me into a corner. I have never ever been like this before and I have no family who I can rely on.

“They were appalling the way they were speaking to me. They were talking down to me like I was some sort of idiot.”

Ms Cunningham-Simpson appeared last year on a Channel 5 documentary about people, who keep a large amount of animals, called 41 Dogs and Counting.

In the documentary she faced eviction if the amount of cats increased or the state of her house deteriorated.

Jan Morse, neighbourhood operations manager, said: “The customer concerned has at least 13 cats living in a relatively small house, which is now affecting conditions inside the property and is in breach of our pet policy.

"We have asked that when maintenance contractors need to visit, our customer ensures that they have a safe working environment in which to carry out necessary repairs.

"This means that the area to be worked on needs to be clean and clear of obstructions, and have adequate ventilation.

"We are working closely with our customer to get this matter resolved as soon as possible so that the boiler can be upgraded.

"In the meantime, we can confirm that there is a working electric shower at the property and we have offered to supply additional electric heaters if required."