A kind-hearted neighbour stepped in when one family's Christmas went from bad to worse.
First they had to abandon their plans and return home when their five-year-old daughter tested positive for Covid.
Then when they got back to their house, they found the boiler had packed up and they had no heating and no running hot water.
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Dad-of-three Rob McAvoy, from Garston, said: "We were due to celebrate Christmas with our family in Worcestershire, but when our youngest Nancy tested positive for Covid we had to cut our plans short and travel back home to Merseyside.
"Then we found the boiler had broken and the house was freezing as it hadn't been on for five days and it was a very cold night.
"The problem was not just finding a plumber over the Christmas holiday period, but when we said our daughter had Covid they weren't interested. We were left with no hot water or heating for six days."
Fortunately their neighbour, electrician Ian Fishwick, came up with an ingenious solution. He offered to buy an adaptor for his tap so that he could get hot water through his hosepipe, which was then fed into the McAvoys' home.
Rob, 39, said: "We used the hosepipe for baths and showers, and boiled a kettle for washing up.
"After Ian connected the hosepipe to his kitchen tap, he threw it over the garden fence to me. I had to get on to the roof and put that through the window and then text him when we were ready to go if we wanted a bath or shower.
"I then had to keep texting him if the water got too hot or too cold. It was quite comical.
"I just wanted to thank him for his kindness in helping us out when we found ourselves in a spot of bother. What a fantastic neighbour."
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