A WOMAN “lived in fear for three years” because a gas company continually failed to disconnect an old pipe.

Susan Paul said she was afraid she “could be blown to kingdom come”.

Ms Paul, 62, who lives in Mountbatten Court in Ingram Crescent East, Hove, said she had battled with the gas company, SGN, since late 2015, asking it to disconnect the old pipe.

She said: “At the time, SGN came to install new gas pipes to my block of flats, which has six tenants.

“The company could not switch off the old gas pipe because there was one vacant room.

“However, it was occupied three weeks later.

“I called SGN and asked if they could disconnect the old pipe.

“SGN told me it had to contact the contractor who installed the new pipe.

“They sent us a letter and told me that they only connect new pipes and don’t disconnect old ones.”

Ms Paul, who used to work for Kodak, said she felt let down by the company and was scared that an accident could have happened.

She said: “It was so frustrating and I felt I had nowhere to turn.

“When SGN installed new pipes in other flats, it only took them 40 minutes to disconnect the old ones.

“I don’t understand why they couldn’t do the same for my block of flats.

“The last thing I want is to die because of a gas explosion.

“I had contacted five independent gas companies to ask about the dangers of having an active old pipe.

“They all said all it takes is a suicidal person, a terrorist or someone doing DIY who has no idea what they’re doing to unscrew the pipe in their own flat. I feared for my life, and everyone else’s.”

Last Friday, SGN sent one of its contractors to inspect the property.

She said: “When the man came into my flat, he inspected the old gas pipe which is under the sink. He unscrewed the cap and gas came out.

“I said to him that I had been telling SGN all along about the problem. He reported it back to SGN but I heard nothing from them on Monday.”

When the Argus contacted SGN on Tuesday, a spokeswoman said: “At the time of our gas network upgrade work in Mountbatten Court in 2015, our engineers could not access one of the flats.”

Later, she told The Argus: “The work was carried out on Tuesday and the old gas pipe is now disconnected.

“The customer is aware.”