Ten Derby Homes tenants recently received a welcome surprise in the post from local gas contractors, Vinshire Plumbing and Heating Ltd.

Tenants were awarded £50 vouchers to spend at their local Asda store after keeping their first gas safety check appointment. Vinshire Ltd, who carried out the inspections, entered all Derby Homes tenants into a prize draw and a total of £500 worth of vouchers were presented to the safety conscious residents.

Shaun Bennett, Director of Investment and Regeneration, said: “These annual safety checks are extremely important. By keeping their appointments tenants not only make sure gas appliances are safe, they also avoid wasting money, which means we maximise the funds available to spend on their homes.

I’d like to thank all tenants who kept their appointment. We offer flexible slots to suit tenants so we aim to achieve a 100% success rate in the number of first appointments that are kept. This scheme is great and it’s nice to be able to offer an incentive with the prize draw”.

Each year Derby Homes is responsible for carrying out gas safety checks in all Derby City Council properties. In 2002 the ‘Homes Pride Programme’ was set up to ensure all Derby Homes housing met the government’s ‘decent homes’ standard. This target was met in 2006. Derby Homes is now committed to ensuring these high standards are maintained by continuing to work in partnership with both national and local companies.

Derby Homes residents can report repairs to the Enquiry Centre on 01332 711000. Lines are open between 8am and 8pm Monday to Friday.

Anyone who believes they may have a gas leak can call Transco on 0800 111 999.