Last updated 15:17, Wednesday, 19 March 2008

AN Egremont man, who five weeks ago raised warnings over a home alarm system that was out of order, lives just four doors from the scene of a fire in which a woman died.

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Colin Dipple: Worried about new alarm system.

Colin Dipple, and his wife Dawn, who is disabled, live at the bungalows at Spenser Close, where Elizabeth Ann Pellow, 59, lost her life in the blaze, last Wednesday (see page 10).

In a Whitehaven News article (February 7) Mr Dipple had expressed his anger, on several fronts, that the system was not working; that no one had told them; that he had discovered its non-operation by chance; and that there was an apparent lack of urgency in getting it fixed.

He was worried about leaving his wife alone at home while he went out shopping because there was no contact with the emergency telephone switchboard, at Lillyhall.

The fault has since been fixed but, he says, residents are having to use a temporary system which means their smoke alarms are no longer connected to the emergency system.

“If Mrs Pellow had a system that was the same as the one we have, and it was working as it should, then it would have gone off and a voice would have asked if she was all right,’’ said Mr Dipple, 40.

“If the smoke alarm goes off and registers in the control room they hit the button to summon the fire service before they ask if you are all right.

“We have a normal smoke detector in the bungalow, but the one that was connected to the emergency aid system is not operational. It is dependent on both the power supply and the BT line to the property working.

“There are 10 bungalows on this row, eight have the alarm system fitted.’’