DOZENS of homes were left without heating when their newly-installed boilers broke down in sub-zero temperatures.

Over the past few months, all council tenants on the Whitehill estate on the outskirts of Chester-le-Street, have had new heating systems added to their homes.

Some of them were only fitted as recently as two weeks ago.

But as temperatures outside plummeted on New Year's Eve, so did temperatures inside for residents of Whitehill.

One tenant, Raymond Shotton, of Cragside, said he and his family awoke to a freezing house and no hot water on New Year's Eve.

He said: "The council must have spent thousands and thousands on fitting these new heating systems and the first real test and they freeze.

"It had been about -7C outside. I had my 82-year-old mother-in-law staying here for the holidays and we had to wrap her in blankets to keep her warm.

"We've heard there were at least 40 houses on the estate affected and a lot of them would be old people."

Contractors for Chester-le-Street District Council spent all day visiting homes on the estate to rectify the problem, which is believed to have been caused when water produced by the combi-boilers froze and so safety devices switched the system off.

A spokesman for the council said he could not confirm how many properties were affected, but said the company that had installed the boilers went out to the estate straightaway to fix the problem.