Heating for five flat blocks in Spring Boroughs breaks down again with -4C night ahead

A new fault in the only heating system for five council-operated housing blocks in Northampton could spell a second freezing cold night for residents.

Hundreds of flats operated by Northampton Partnership Homes in Spring Boroughs have been without hot water or heating since yesterday afternoon.

Earlier today, the Chronicle & Echo reported that fault had been fixed - but it has now been reported that a new problem has sprung up and the heating is still out.

Residents are now facing a second night in a row without heating or hot water.

It comes ahead of another bitterly cold night for the town, with temperatures set to drop as low as -4C.

The five flat blocks - St Marks, St Johns, St Stephens, St Barnabas, and St Lukes - are reportedly heated by a central system.

A spokesperson for Northampton partnership Homes said: "We’ve been on site with our specialist contractors trying to repair the heating system since yesterday evening.

"Unfortunately, there has been more than one burst pipe affecting the block heating. This has meant that residents have had their heating return only to stop working again.

"We understand how difficult this is while we’re experiencing such low temperatures and we are doing everything we can to fix the problem.

"We’re currently arranging for temporary heaters to be delivered to vulnerable residents while our contractors are still working on site.”

When it first failed, reportedly at around 2pm on February 11, all flats linked to the system lost their hot water and heating.

Spring Boroughs frequently ranks as one of the most deprived areas in the country.

One 70-year-old resident - who asked to remain anonymous - said they last night had to rely on blankets and their gas oven as a heat source i the freezing weather.

UPDATE: In a statement on the morning of February 13, NPH claimed the issue was repaired at around 9.30pm on February 12.