The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Boiler man ‘broke in’ for gas test
Afather has hit out after a council worker “broke into” his house to carry out a gas inspection. Ryan Smart, from Buckhaven, said he missed two boiler checks at his home while his son was in hospital due to diabetes.
The 31-year-old was then given a “last chance” third inspection but was at work when the gas engineer called.
Mr Smart, who works for Fife Council in the social work sector, said he asked if it could wait until he returned home but was told that was not an option.
He claimed the gas engineer then “broke in” by drilling through his lock.
Mr Smart told The Courier: “You get three chances for a gas inspection each year.
“We have been in and out of the hospital with our son so we missed the first two.
“I got a phone call on Thursday to say there was someone at the door to carry out the inspection and they were going to break in if nobody was there.
“I said I could get someone to the house but it wouldn’t be for a couple of hours. I was told the engineer had made the decision and was going ahead with it.
“I phoned the housing manager but there was nothing he could do and I called councillors (Colin) Davidson and (Altany) Craik.
“They tried to reach out to say it was unreasonable but it was too late. By the time they got through the engineer had broken in.”
Mr Smart said he and his partner, who did not want to be named, felt “violated”.
He added: “If we had the option we wouldn’t be council tenants, we would have walked away.
“We feel violated that someone has broken into our house.
“They could have been in and looked at anything.”
He said the council fitted a replacement lock but the family was not given a key, with a second new lock then placed so they could access their home.
Mr Smart added: “I had to phone an emergency repair line to get it sorted. It was an unnecessary situation and it was an unnecessary cost to the council who had to fix the lock.
“The engineer just did what they wanted – that’s really worrying that people get the say to do what they want.
“It wasn’t that I didn’t let them in, it was that I was working.
“I would have let them in to do the check and it wouldn’t have cost them in the end.”
Mr Smart plans to submit a formal complaint to Fife Council.
Peter Nicol, Levenmouth’s housing manager, said: “The council has a legal responsibility to ensure that the gas boilers fitted in our properties are well maintained and safe to use.
“We only enforce access where previous attempts to arrange a suitable time to carry out the gas service have been unsuccessful.
“We always leave the property secured with clear instructions on how to arrange for keys to be handed back to the tenant.”