A PENSIONER has hit out at a major supplier of bottled gas after their delivery service refused to carry the heavy canisters through her house because of health and safety fears.

Kathy Christopher, 71, from Hatherleigh is unable to budge the Calor canisters when they are full.

Yet the company has told her that staff will not take the containers through her house, and will only leave them outside her home.

Ms Christopher, a retired legal secretary, said the policy flies in the face of concerns about keeping elderly people warm during the bitter winter.

"All you hear about in the cold weather is that people should be watching out for old-aged pensioners," she said. "I think this policy that Calor has introduced goes against that completely."

Ms Christopher left Calor in 2008, because she found a cheaper supplier of the gas she uses for heat and hot water.

But she found the new company to be less reliable, and wanted to switch back to Calor. Yet, when she phoned to sign up, she was told that delivery staff would no longer bring the product into her home, but would only leave it outside the door, because of health and safety rules.

Ms Christopher has no family living nearby to help. She said: "When they are full, I can barely move them at all, even by pushing on them. They used to carry them right through the house, and they never complained about it."

She has been forced to go back to the alternative supplier, because delivery staff work in pairs, and they will bring the canisters inside.

Calor spokesman Paul Blacklock said the safety of customers and staff had to come first, and said responsibility lay with the company to ensure their workers were not put in dangerous situations.

Local managers had decided they were not prepared to allow a delivery man to carry the canisters up the few steps inside the home.

He said: "We are obviously concerned to make sure that people are warm, but we have to ensure they are safe, and that our staff are safe."