OVERHEATING residents in a Hampshire tower block were left to sweat out the heatwave – because the council left the heating on.

Unable to turn off their underfloor heating, residents of Canberra Towers in Weston, Southampton, said the heat in their homes was “unbearable”.

Last night council chiefs pledged to review the system in a bid to cool down residents.

Heating in many of the properties in the Weston block is controlled centrally by the council and turned on at the start of winter in October and turned off around the end of May.

But with a heatwave sweeping the south, residents were forced to open all their windows and doors to try and cool down flats.

Bus driver Steve Pier lives in the 25- floor block with Deborah Wilson, their one-year-old son William Wilson-Pier and Deborah’s other son, Jordan Gilbert.

The 53-year-old, who lives at the property three days a week, said: “It is ridiculous, you could hardly breathe, and there was just nowhere to hide from it. It’s unbearable – I’ve got fans on. It’s like this every year.”

Deborah added: “It’s just really sticky and sweaty all the time. I’ve been here nearly ten years. It’s always like this.”

Anna Forrest, 61,who lives in the 144-flat tower block with her husband Ian, said: “We have been slowly cooking in here. Not only is it bad for the environment but it’s such a waste of taxpayers money.”

Deputy council leader Royston Smith said: “It’s something we are aware of, and we do need to be more responsive to the weather conditions.

“Obviously the problem is that weather predictions are not always right and they can also change.

“A few weeks ago we had some warm weather and a week later it got really cold again.

“We do know the centrally controlled heating is a problem, simply because one person’s comfort level is another person’s discomfort.

“Unfortunately it would take something like tens of thousands of pounds to replace the system in all the blocks and the council does not have that significant amount of money.”