AN ANGRY couple have taken legal advice in a bid to get compensation from British Gas after claiming fumes started to leak from behind a new fire installed by company engineers.

Chris Jones said one of the engineers told him there could have been a build up of gas and a danger of an explosion.

His pregnant girlfriend, Nikki, 23, went to her doctor for a check-up just in case exposure to the fumes had harmed her or her unborn child. She was given the all-clear.

Although British Gas quickly mended the leak, Mr Jones, 22, of Castle Street, Nelson, was annoyed at the company's attitude to his plight and has consulted a solicitor in an effort to get compensation for the inconvenience.

Today a British Gas spokesman apologised for the inconvenience. "We're very sorry that it appears the installation work was not up to the usual high standards," he said. "We made the repair without charge and we are sorry for the inconvenience."

Mr Jones fumed: "I paid almost £1,400 for a new gas fire and back boiler and this happened. We could smell something straight away but we put it down to them being new.

"About ten days later the next door neighbour smelled gas and called in the gas engineers but they couldn't find any leak in her house.

"Eventually they came to us and said we had quite a big leak and cut off our gas supply but they couldn't find where it was coming from at first.

"We've got everything running on gas - the central heating, the cooker and the hot water.

"Eventually the engineer took the fire out and found that something hadn't been tightened properly and gas was coming out. It was going up the cavity and under the bedroom floor.

"One of the engineers said there could have been a build-up which could have exploded. He said we were lucky.

"I've had to chase British Gas up about it.

"In the end one person was giggling down the phone at me.

"It made me really angry at their whole attitude over the business. You shouldn't have to put up with this kind of thing when you've spent almost £1,400. I'm after some kind of compensation from British Gas for the inconvenience I've had to go through."

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