THE wife of a terminally ill man says her family were left without central heating or hot water over the Christmas and New Year holiday.

While other families were settling in front of the TV and enjoying the break, Abertillery mother-of-two Angela Rogers spent the Christmas week boiling kettles for washing and cleaning dishes.

She is the main carer for her husband Alun and has to look after all his needs.

He is in the advanced stages of Huntingtons disease, a degenerative genetic disorder, and is virtually unable to move on his own.

Symptoms include involuntary jerking movements of the limbs, face and trunk and increasing difficulty with communication, swallowing and walking.

The couple's two teenage children Dale, 19 and Sarah, 16, also share their home.

"I have been very upset about the situation," said Mrs Rogers, 50.

"It's very difficult anyway but extremely so without hot water, as I have to bath Alun - it's been so stressful."

The family rent a flat in Ty Bryn Court from Gwerin Housing Association.

A gas engineer from Connaught, the contractors used by Gwerin, called at the home on December 24 and said another part was needed to fix the problem.

Mrs Rogers says she was told the boiler could possibly be fixed on Christmas Eve, but heard nothing the next day.

She resigned herself to struggling through Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

The family were relying on an electric fire in the sitting room and a fan heater provided by Gwerin as well as the cooker, to keep warm.

Today the problem was fixed and heating restored to the flat.

Parts had to be ordered - Housing Association Mark Gardner, chief executive of Gwerin Homes, said: "We were made aware of the situation on Christmas Eve and one of our operators attended.

"We identified the problem with the boiler but the part to correct the problem had to be ordered, and it couldn't be supplied until January 2.

"We supplied the family with two heaters and we attended on a second occasion between Christmas and new year to confirm that was the part we needed.

"The part arrived Wednesday morning, we fixed the problem and now everything is working properly.

"We are really sorry for the inconvenience over the festive period."