A Sutton woman and her nine-month-old daughter have gone three months without heating in their flat and are facing a perilous winter without warmth, with no solution in sight.

And to make matters worse, last week Courtney France, of Hulverston Close, was told by Sutton Council housing chiefs her temporary flat contained asbestos, which would have to be removed before her heating could be restored.

No date has been given for its removal.

But the council claimed it had sent people round to sort out the problem on a number of occasions, and each time Miss France was not at home.

In the meantime, Miss France and her baby daughter Tyler, who are both asthmatic, will have to brave the cold weather in a home without heat, and according to the 19-year-old, this is already affecting their health for the worse.

She said: "We've both had flu. They've been telling me all the way through that someone was going to come and fix it. And then last week, they started talking about asbestos."

Miss France, whose heating was initially turned off because of a piping problem, said blow heaters, offered by the council as temporary solutions, were unsuitable because of their tendency to bring on asthma attacks.

She asked: "Why didn't they tell me about the asbestos and why did they move me into this flat in the first place?"

Miss France, who was put on the council's homeless register after separating from with Tyler's father, has only been living in the flat for six months. She said it was the fourth temporary property she had been given in 16 months.

A council spokesman said: "Every effort is being made to return the central heating to full working order by installing new piping following an inspection at the end of October.

"Efforts to gain entry to service the central heating system had been made on five previous occasions since July but there had been no response by the tenant, even to the cards left to make an appointment.

"The replacement of the piping needs the removal of an asbestos sheet which, while in situ, presents no safety problems."

November 16, 2001 11:02