Janet Borrett's heating system at her home in Wollaston Close has been condemned after a serious gas leak was discovered when her new carbon monoxide detector sounded the alarm.

Mrs Borrett, 70, said: "I am so thankful for the alarm and grateful I got away with it. I didn't want to go out in a blaze of glory like that."

Mrs Borrett asked her daughter, Theresa Evans, for a carbon monoxide detector for Christmas, but she was confused when the alarm kept sounding after it was fitted on Boxing Day.

"My daughter said the alarm was a stupid present but I was worried my heating system was old. So I thought it would be a safety precaution," she said.

"But then it kept making this terrible piercing noise and started upsetting all my dogs."

After the alarm, which measures levels of the toxic gas in the air, sounded three times, Mrs Borrett called Transco.

An engineer detected a major gas leak, with flames licking around the main burner in Mrs Borrett's boiler, and disconnected the whole system.

"The man said I was one lucky woman and that the alarm had been given to me at the right time," said Mrs Borrett.

Mrs Borrett now needs a new heating system and has successfully applied for a grant of £2,700 to pay for it, but she has been told it could take up to six months for her gas system to work again.

A spokesman for Warm Front said: "Although winter is naturally our busiest period, Mrs Borrett's application is proceeding well and we will be making every effort to ensure that the work is completed within timescales."