Tenants refusing to let gas engineers into their homes in Doncaster

St Leger Homes, which manages the portfolio of social housing reported 100 per cent uptake of gas servicing appointments during 2019 by visiting more than 19,000 properties.

The firm started to carry out the work in February taking advantage of the change in legislation to undertake gas servicing two months prior to the expiry date of the landlord gas safety record.

Following the government’s lockdown announcement relating to Covid-19 and guidance on social distancing, gas servicing was suspended for more than a week while landlords obtained clarification on whether to continue.

However, Coun Glyn Jones, deputy mayor, told a meeting of the council’s cabinet that some residents were denying workers access to their homes as the lockdown began,

Reports detail that some people were ‘too frightened’ to let them the engineers in, but council officials note that the authority will take legal enforcement action if required.

Coun Bill Mordue, council cabinet member for business, said: “I’m concerned we’re not hitting 100 per cent and I understand the reasons why, but I’ve seen the aftermath of a gas explosion and it’s not pretty.

“A house was reduced to rubble, bar one standing wall, so people need to start letting workers in and they need to start standing in the garden or another room, because they don’t have to be next to the gas engineer when they do it - it’s a major safety issue.”

Paul Tanney, St Leger chief executive officer, said: “I appreciate the support.

“We are and have changed our process to try to emphasise those points are serious, so we are asking people to go into another room while the fitter is present.

“We’ve strengthened our process and provided additional information to try to enable that to happen. I’ve also witnessed the aftermath of a gas explosion and it is harrowing and difficult to manage.”