A number of vulnerable people have been left without heating or water for more than 24 hours three times this year.

Residents at Lenham House in Glebe Gardens, Lenham, have been left for as long as a whole bank holiday weekend without the basic necessities.

The sheltered accommodation, run by Golding Homes, houses elderly people and those who need additional health-related support.

Debbie West, 57, has been forced to leave her flat and move between her boyfriend and her daughter's home in Ashford because of the problem.

Miss West, who suffers with mental health issues, has been referred to a counsellor to help cope with stress caused by the inconveniences.

She said: "Even animals wouldn't be treated this bad, we can't keep on like this.

"A lot of the people that live here are old and some are bed ridden. What are they going to do?

" I am one of the lucky ones because I can travel but what if you can't? It makes you feel guilty leaving and not being able to do anything to help them.

"My mental health issues were heightened tremendously. I was on a course and it was going so well and now it has just taken me backwards so many steps."

Two of the incidents happened over bank holiday weekends which caused extra distress for those living in the flats as there was nobody available to call to get help.

The grandmother-of-one added: "It's diabolical everyone has a problem so they are very vulnerable.

"We can't keep on like this, every time we are asked to bear with for two to four hours and the heating or water wasn't back until that night.

"One time nobody was told so we couldn't prepare for it."
Many of the residents also have emergency cords in their rooms that can be pulled in case they need assistance.

The mother-of-one said there have been occasions where an alarm will be raised but nobody would come to help.

"It's like we are in God's waiting room and if they wait around long enough then we will just leave," she added.

A spokesman for Golding Homes said: "We are aware that there has been issues at Lenham House leaving our residents without hot water and heating on occasions. Our operatives have been on site to carry out repairs during these times and we are also aware of a recent mains water leak that resulted in total loss of mains water.

"During these occasions we have remained in constant contact with our residents, keeping them informed of the situation, supplying each household with heaters and bottled water, and providing additional help to our more vulnerable residents.

"We acknowledge that this has caused inconvenience to our residents and we sincerely apologise for this, but want to reassure them that we are doing all we can to rectify the situation as soon as possible.

"We have operatives attending the site this afternoon to carry out further repairs and we will be commencing a programme of monthly inspections to ensure that the boilers remain in operation."