A leading ethical repair firm has shamed a rogue plumber who charged an 85-year-old woman £1,500 to repair a water pipe.

James Anderson (pictured), who runs Depher (disability and elderly plumbing and heating emergency repair) in Burnley, posted on Twitter that the plumber, who works for private landlords and letting agents in the area, charged the exorbitant fee but still left the elderly woman with a leaking pipe.

'This one has angered me big time ' a rogue plumber!' tweeted Anderson. 'Absolutely disgraceful. We will deal with this and then deal with him. He has lost five customers that I have informed, all landlords and estate agents.'

Anderson repaired the pipe and after discovering that the woman is a carer for her disabled daughter, decided she needed a boiler conversion which he will fit free of charge.

Issue

Burnley Council says that its housing team is interested in looking into the issue and is keen to get details of the rogue plumber.

Anderson set up his community initiative company in 2017 to help elderly, disabled, vulnerable and low-income tenants and householders who were suffering due to poor quality heating and plumbing, that was ineffective and, in many cases, potentially life-threatening.

It relies on public donations to cover the cost of labour and materials, allowing it to provide free services during winter months and discounted services at other times including urgent emergency works such as repairing gas leaks, installing new boilers and heating systems.

It works with 67 subcontractors and thousands of volunteers across the country.