A Poole family has been enduring sweltering temperatures of up to 32 degrees in their flat, unable to open any windows due to external works.

Andrew Mason told the Echo his home had effectively been turned into a greenhouse during the hot spell – leaving he and wife Anne-Marie and three young children “dripping in sweat day and night”.

Not only are they unable to open windows due to potentially hazardous dusts and construction lifts operating outside during the £7m refurbishment works on the tower block, but also large glass doors have been installed in their living room, which intensify the heat and are completely unusable as the balcony remains incomplete.

The sales and marketing executive said: “It’s just turning the place into a greenhouse with no air circulation. One day it was up to 32 degrees at 9pm and first thing in the morning it was 29 degrees.

“My wife has been in tears the heat is so stifling – it’s practically unbearable.

“We are not the only ones suffering – some people have opened their windows despite being told not to and had them broken by the construction lifts coming down. One lady was taken in an ambulance with heat exhaustion.”

He said the children, aged six, two and 10 months were struggling.

Anne-Marie added: “I want to protect the children – but it is almost unbearable. I strip them down to a nappy but they are still really uncomfortable – grizzly and miserable.

“I feel like grabbing a hammer and smashing the thing down just to let the air in.

“It’s caused a lot of emotional stress and while we have approached PHP they don’t seem to care.”

Andrew added: “If you left a child stuck in a car at those temperatures you’d be prosecuted.”

Among the advice given to them was to keep their windows wide open at night – something they said they wouldn’t even consider living on the fifth floor with a climbing toddler.

FANS OFFERED

A PHP spokesman told the Daily Echo that all residents, including Mr Mason, had been offered fans to help ventilate their homes during the current hot weather.

He added that during the refurbishment works, residents have been asked not to open their windows between 8am to 6pm during the week.

PHP also says they will continue to provide health and safety advice to every resident “to help mitigate the effects of the hot weather, and we are aware of the potential risk of overheating – in particular to the young and the elderly”.

The spokesman added: “We have offered to provide more fans to help Mr Mason cool his home.

“As he is a private tenant living in a leasehold property, we are also liaising with his landlord to explore a solution which may be more appropriate to his circumstances.”