RESIDENTS of four council tower blocks in south London are still living without heating since the gas supply was turned off a month ago.

Full rent is being charged to those living at the Ledbury estate in Southwark despite tenants living in chilly conditions, as well as having to contend with fire hazards, campaigners said yesterday.

The gas was shut off from the buildings after the discovery that it could cause a collapse in the event of an explosion and residents were promised a replacement system.

Five weeks on, locals united in protest to object to intolerable living conditions and the lack of action by Southwark Council.

Hanan Majid of the Ledbury Action Group told the Star: “The situation is dire. Families with children are living without heating and it’s getting really cold.”

As well as the lack of heating and a ban on use of portable heaters — due to the inadequate electrical supply — there is also daily rationing of hot water.

Mr Majid said that more than 500 people were living in these circumstances, with very few having been offered temporary accommodation.

Residents now face a further week’s delay in the installation of new diesel-powered heating. But Mr Majid pointed out that this would not be without snags as it would involve drilling and the towers were “weak as it is.”

The group has emailed the council asking for safe accommodation for those living on the estate but said the lack of response has shown that “they’d rather let them freeze.”

Residents say Southwark Council is not listening or responding to their needs urgently enough and called for “warm, dry and safe” homes — as proudly promoted by Southwark itself — across the borough.

Housing Minister Sajid Javid recently openly criticised the council over its lack of attention to structural defects to buildings after cracks big enough to put books through were discovered.

He said: “Those cracks did not appear overnight. They had been there for some time: months, or even years. How can it be that the local authority was seemingly able to act only after the Grenfell tragedy?”