A 63-year-old pensioner who celebrated Christmas Day without central heating had to wait almost six weeks for Yorkshire Housing to fit a new boiler.

The social housing organisation fitted the new boiler at Yvonne Clay’s home in North Parade, Skipton, on February 1, after it had broken down on Christmas Eve.

“They came on February 1 to fit a new combi-boiler. I’m still not happy it took so long. It was a bit of a miserable Christmas. We did our best to enjoy it – I wasn’t going to cancel the party,” she said.

When she reported the fault, she was told she needed a new boiler and the job to replace it would be classed as “routine”, meaning she would not be given an appointed time and could have to wait a month.

The boiler failed on Christmas Eve and she was told she would have to wait until the New Year for a new circuit box.

A Yorkshire Housing contractor arrived on January 3, made a repair, but it broke down again within about three days, she explained.

She was then told that the boiler was unrepairable and that she would need a new one, and on January 13 received a letter confirming it would need changing but would be classed as a “routine” job.

“We used a gas fire in the living room but only at night because it’s on a meter and it’s too expensive to leave on all the time. I’ve had to wear extra jumpers and have blankets on the bed,” she added.

A spokesman for Yorkshire Housing said: “Following a phone call from Yvonne Clay on December 24 2011, one of our contractors went to her house to fix the boiler. Unfortunately the boiler needed a part that had to be ordered so Yvonne was given some temporary heaters. She was able to get hot water from the immersion heater.”