A MOTHER of a ten-week-old baby has criticised a housing charity after being left without hot water and heating for ten days over the festive period.

Single parent Jemma Pepper, 18, claims she has been forced to leave her home in The Leas, Canvey, after she was left without hot water since before Christmas, leaving her unable to properly care for her newborn son, Jasper.

The young mum says she was having to spend an hour ferrying saucepans of hot water upstairs just to give her baby a bath.

She said: “Having a nine-week old baby at the time, it was awful. I wanted to spend some quality time with my son over Christmas, but instead I was going from one family member’s house to the next for somewhere to stay.

“It’s been really stressful because being in an unfamiliar place my baby’s just not getting settled. Just as we’ve settled in one place we’ve had to move because my mum and my aunt just don’t have the room.

“I went back to my house the Saturday after Christmas and it still wasn’t fixed, so I phoned up the landlord and they basically told me I was not classed as an emergency. It’s just not acceptable.

I can’t stay there as it’s getting so cold now, I cannot do without proper heating.

“I was having to ferry kettles and saucepans of hot water upstairs to the bath, which is ridiculous.

“They think it’s going to snow soon or so I hear, so I hope it’ll be fixed before then.”

Miss Pepper was moved into the property by the charity Nacro after having nowhere else to go when she left social care.

A Nacro spokeswoman said: “A fault was reported to us on December 23.

“Nacro made an attempt for repair specialists to attend the property that day, however, unfortunately, Ms Pepper could not receive the repair in person at the property.

“Several other attempts have been made to arrange a convenient day for repair. A repair has now been arranged for a third time on January 3.

“Nacro is committed to ensuring all of our residents have any repairs completed with utmost urgency and we are doing everything we can to expedite this for Ms Pepper as quickly as possible.”