AN Edithmead woman has said she felt 'lucky to be alive' after finding her boiler had been leaking carbon monoxide into her home for three months.

Jacqui Pomphrey, 57, who lives on Windmill Close in Edithmead, only noticed after taking her pet cat to the vet on Thursday, January 27.

"I had a nagging cough that had lasted for a little while but it was only on a trip to take my cat to the vet I noticed it didn't effect me outside my home," Mrs Pomphrey said.

"When I arrived back I soon found I was coughing again and so thought it must be something in the home."

Jacqui had a working carbon monoxide alarm but it had not gone off, and proceeded to call out a gas engineer.

"Almost as soon as he opened the boiler room cupboard, both his and my carbon monoxide alarm went off.

"Although carbon monoxide is invisible and does not smell, you could see where it had been coming out of loose valve on top of the boiler and left a mark on the wall," she said.

Mrs Pomphrey said that the door being closed had meant only relatively small amounts of carbon monoxide had seeped into her bedroom.

"I actually broke down and cried when I saw it, it was very scary, carbon monoxide can be a silent killer," she said.

The gas engineer condemned the boiler and it was fixed the following week.

"I had been in and out of the doctor's with these coughs for nearly three months before I knew what was going on.

"It could happen to anyone in mobile homes and I would urge people to be wary."