A HUGE increase in demand for pipe and heating repairs has seen City of York Council’s workload double during the recent cold weather.

The council has had more than 1,300 calls in the past week – more than twice as many as normal.

Engineers are said to be working “round the clock” to meet demand for repairs to burst pipes and heating problems. Work is being prioritised according to the vulnerability of the tenant.

However, the council said that many people who called could avoid waiting in the cold simply by bleeding their radiators.

A council spokeswoman said: “Tenants are being encouraged to identify where the stop tap for their incoming cold water supply is in case of a water leak when the frozen pipes begin to thaw.

“Relighting the pilot light or bleeding radiators are among the most common remedies to heating problems and doing it themselves will spare tenants the wait for an engineer.”

Morris Scott, 71, who lives in the Burton Stone Lane area, said: “Our heater broke down on Tuesday. We have had no hot water and no heating.

“It’s been very cold – it’s like a fridge in here. All we have is an electric fire and you need a blank cheque to keep one of them.”

Mr Scott and his wife said their boiler was finally fixed at 8pm on Thursday.

The council said a temporary arrangement had been struck with regular contractors to call in additional staff to support the council’s heating engineers and plumbers as and when required.