PENSIONERS claim their lives have been made a “living hell” after enduring a five-year “nightmare” since their home burst into flames.

Harwich and Manningtree Standard:

Destroyed - firefighters tackle the huge blaze on the Grant's dream home

Tom and Valerie Grant, from Canvey, are still waiting for repairs to their bungalow to be completed.

They were told it would be done 26 weeks after the horrendous blaze in January 2013, which made them homeless.

Harwich and Manningtree Standard: Devastated - Owner Tom Grant outside his home in Rose Road, Canvey

Gutted - Tom Grant after the devastating effects of the fire 

The couple have had to live in various B&Bs and hotels while major works were carried out to rebuild their dream home, in Rose Road, where they had only lived ich they had only been living in for a year when the fire happened .

They claim they have not been able to sleep properly because of the lasting effects the terrifying ordeal has had on their mental health.

Mr Grant, 65, said: “We have been through a living hell since our home burst into flames. It’s been a nightmare. It’s just been one thing after another.

“Now we have received more bad news to say this won’t be done by Christmas. It has made my wife ill.”

Some of the delays were from having to wait for approval for planning approval applications into Castle Point Council, but the couple claim the rest is from inconsistent work from a number of different contractors.

They claims one of the firm’s project managers overlooked the lack of rafters put in the roof, and allegedly tried to push it through a health and safety check.

Tom claims he has since been dismissed.

Mr Grant said: “We haven’t been able to sleep – we were terrified the roof was going to cave in because we were told that the firm who had done the work hadn’t made it safe as they hadn’t put enough rafters in.

“We have had three different contractors who have not done the jobs up to standard.

“A lot of things have been made worse as a result of their work.

“We just want out home back, we cannot cope anymore. We have been blackmailed and threatened, and were made to move back into our home after two years because our insurance company didn’t want to put us up any more. There was no lightning, no electricity and no heating.”

In January 2013, The Grants were made homeless after the boiler in their one-bedroom bungalow exploded, because of what they claim was a serious error made by a UK Power Networks engineer to outside cables.

The property rapidly went up in flames while the husband and wife sat in the front room.

Mr Grant attempted to tackle the blaze himself and helped his wife and dog to safety, but the bungalow was destroyed within minutes.

The pair say they received no compensation for what they have been through and they have been passed from pillar to post, with the electricity company refusing to take the blame after an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive fell through.

UK Power Networks deny any liability.

They said in a statement: “Because of our concern, UK Power Networks fully investigated this matter in 2013 and we do not accept liability for the actions of our contractors in this case. This is a matter between our contractors’ insurers and the Grants’ insurers.”