A pregnant mum and her boyfriend were left without heating or hot water for two days when they thought they had a poisonous gas leak.

Tia Jackman and Khristian Rawlings, of Theobold Street, Borehamwood, panicked when their carbon monoxide detector went off on Friday night - and they quickly turned the boiler off.

Engineers from the National Grid arrived within one hour and found no traces of the deadly gas in their house - but banned them from using the boiler or gas cooker until an electrician was called out.

Mr Rawlings phoned housing association Affinity Sutton's 24-hour hotline to report the fault - but claims the operator told him there was “nothing they could do” until Monday.

The 30-year-old said: “It seemed a bit ridiculous. It was minus three out there and we were freezing indoors. I wasn’t sure what to do.

“The engineers from the National Grid stuck yellow stickers on our cooker and boiler so we knew it would be dangerous to turn anything on. We didn’t want to risk it.

“I expected there to be a lot more in place to help people in our situation and the out-of-hours service is an absolute disgrace.

“Leaving a pregnant woman in a freezing cold house for a weekend is unacceptable and I am livid this was allowed to happen.

“It was a very terrifying weekend for us because we had no clue what was going on.”

The next afternoon, Affinity Sutton loaned the couple a “measly” portable heater – which they said was barely big enough to warm their two-bedroom flat.

As a result, they sent their four-year-old daughter Caitlin to stay with a friend, while they spent the weekend huddled in blankets, jumpers and gloves.

Electricians from the housing association fixed the problem this morning and replaced their carbon monoxide detector – but the couple are still "furious" over the delay.

Miss Jackman has a hip condition which means she struggles to walk – and she said the ordeal left her fearing for the health of her unborn son, Kaiden, who is due in June.

The 33-year-old added: “What is the point of having an emergency hotline if they don’t do anything?

“I am glad it has now been fixed but that’s not the point – I know it was unavoidable but we shouldn’t have been made to wait this long.”

The Borehamwood Times is awaiting a comment from Affinity Sutton.