A POWER company has apologised for leaving a young family without central heating after failing to send them a key for their meter.

The Moss-Carbert family, from Darlington, had a key meter fitted by British Gas on November 24 with £25 credit and were told the key would be posted to them. But the key had not arrived by Thursday last week and they were down to their last 46p of credit on the meter.

An engineer visited the family, in Finchale Crescent, Branksome, and put £5 of emergency credit on the meter and the family was promised a key would be sent out straight away.

But by Saturday the key had still not arrived and the meter was down to 70p.

An engineer visited them again, but this time told them he could not add anything to the meter until it dropped below 50p in credit.

Knowing a new key would not arrive before Monday, Theresa Moss-Carbert, mother of seven-year-old quads, Hannah, Jonpaul, Adam, and Simon, was worried the family would be left without electricity.

In a bid to conserve power, she and her husband, Paul, decided to switch electric appliances off, including the central heating and only used one light.

After more telephone calls to British Gas, another engineer visited them at 10.30pm on Saturday to put a further £5 emergency credit on the meter and a new key was posted to them yesterday.

A spokesman for British Gas said: "We apologise to Mrs Moss-Carbert for the inconvenience caused.

"We have spoken to her to apologise and will be compensating her for the cost of telephone calls she has had to make to us."