A DISABLED woman was left without heating for almost 70 hours after a carbon monoxide alert.

Marjorie Humble called out four qualified gas engineers out in one day in an attempt to find out whether she and her Down's Syndrome sister were at risk from the silent killer.

Her gas supply was switched off on Friday night and was not reconnected again until Monday morning - despite assurances from British Gas that her case would be prioritised because of her 46-year-old sister, Ada.

Miss Humble, of Sunnydale, Shildon, County Durham, first called British Gas on Friday afternoon because she feared her gas fire was leaking carbon monoxide, after she had fallen asleep and awoke feeling ill.

"When I woke up I had a headache and my eyes were really sore. I had a horrible taste on my tongue and felt really ill," she said.

Miss Humble called British Gas who sent a Transco, engineer, who was unable to find anything wrong but would not advise on whether the supply was safe to use.

She complained and another Transco engineer arrived and cut off her gas supply.

With temperatures dipping, she again called British Gas in a bid to have the heating system attended to. A third engineer arrived, who confirmed the presence of carbon monoxide.

He switched on the gas supply again, saying that it would be safe to use the central heating.

But Miss Humble again became ill and another engineer was called out and the gas supply switched off once more.

Miss Humble said: "I called British Gas and explained the situation and they said they would send someone out on the Saturday morning. They said we would be a priority because of Ada, but nobody came.

"I rang again and they said they would not be able to send anyone out until Monday morning. I had no form of heating and they said they could not do anything.

"I pay £25 a month insurance to British Gas so this sort of thing won't happen. I think we have been badly treated.''

A spokesman for British Gas apologised for any inconvenience caused to the sisters, but said the company had followed its contract and the situation had been resolved.

He said they had found nothing wrong with the system and had arranged to check it again today.