South Lanarkshire Council have responded to thousands of call-outs due to the recent cold weather problems.

With temperatures reaching below zero, challenges have been presented for households across the region.   

The council’s Housing and Repairs service are dealing with over 1600 emergency repairs due to the extreme spell of cold weather that has recently resulted in loss of heating and burst pipes for some households. 

At the moment, 17 households are decanted, 45 have been accommodated in hotels and others are staying with family or friends. 

The executive sirector of housing and technical resources, Stephen Gibson, said: “We understand the frustration being experienced by tenants and the distress the severe weather damage is causing.

“In response we are working hard to ensure that in the first instance people are safe.

“While we will endeavour to contact tenants by phone and text in advance to arrange access for inspections and/or to carry out repairs, there will be instances where we simply call at a house when an operative is already working in the area.”

Teams are working hard to deal with the high number of problems and extra arrangements have been put in place to ensure issues are resolved fast.

Staff have been redirected from non-urgent programmes to help support the increased number of calls and repairs.   

As well as this, additional supplies of materials, boilers and parts have been secured with the council also delivering temporary heaters and bottled water to homes where issues cannot be immediately resolved.

 Housing officers remain in contact with vulnerable tenants and arrangements are in place to prioritise households which have vulnerable, elderly or young children in residence.   

Support is also on offer to those concerned with costs of switching heating on or using temporary heating, any resident experiencing difficulties paying for energy should contact the Local Housing Office on 0303 123 1012.

Arrangements are also in place to address the further problems that will inevitably arise as a result when the cold weather thaws.