Grandmother Louisa Walker was exposed to poisonous fumes from a gas fire in her home following repairs.

Mrs Walker, 70, who lives in a council property in the Edward Street area of Brighton, had repairs carried out on her chimney after experiencing a leaking roof.

The pensioner said workmen removed the gas fire from the fireplace to carry out the work and fitted a cowl to the chimney stack to increase ventilation.

But just days after the fire was refitted, Mrs Walker began to feel unwell.

She said: "I was frightened because I live on my own. I kept falling asleep, I had headaches and my eyes were sore and swollen and I had a rash."

Mrs Walker, who has lived in the property for about 12 years, said it was not until a gas service engineer carried out a routine annual check in March that the fault was discovered.

Workman told her the fire was dangerous and put a notice on it saying it must not be switched on.

Mrs Walker said: "I had told him he need not bother to check the fire as it had only just been fitted but he said he had to check it as it was more than his life was worth not to. It was a good job he did."

Mrs Walker visited her doctor and was given cream for her eyes but was assured she would not suffer long-term damage.

Now the pensioner is upset she has not received a call or letter telling her when her fire will be reconnected, despite numerous letters and calls to Brighton and Hove City Council.

She said: "They must think I'm neurotic but they left my property in a dangerous condition.

"The council has sent me a claim form but I say what price do you put on your life?"

A council spokesman said: "We would like to apologise to Ms Walker.

"Thankfully, her home also has central heating, which is entirely independent of the gas fire.

"Our investigations suggest the installation was done correctly.

"What we failed to pick up was that the work we had done on her chimney may have created a slight down-draught that was causing small quantities of fumes to drift back into her home.

"Immediately disconnecting the fire was the correct thing for our contractor to do.

"Since then, we have been trying to work out with our contractors how best to fix the problem and we very much regret not keeping Ms Walker informed of this.

"We are contacting her."