Kate ScotterDozens of householders have been feeling the cold as windows they expected to have fitted five years ago have been put off for another year.Families in Bowers Avenue, Mile Cross, Norwich, were told their draughty windows would be replaced with new polyvinyl chloride unplasticised (PVCu) windows back in 1995.Kate Scotter

Dozens of householders have been feeling the cold as windows they expected to have fitted five years ago have been put off for another year.

Families in Bowers Avenue, Mile Cross, Norwich, were told their draughty windows would be replaced with new polyvinyl chloride unplasticised (PVCu) windows back in 1995.

Each year, however, the work has been put off and now they have received a letter saying the windows will not be replaced until 2011.

The news comes after the councillors pumped an extra �7m into the project in a bid to speed up the scheme.

John Darmont, 51, who lives with his wife Teresa, 49, said: 'It's very, very cold and the windows are beyond help.

'The council just keeps putting it off and putting if off. My next door neighbour who has got two kids can't even get her window shut.'

The father of one said he has a mix match of double glazed and old wooden windows as the council has fixed some which were beyond repair.

Ninety per cent of the estate has already had the new windows fitted but at least 10 maisonettes were overlooked and are still waiting.

A City Hall spokeswoman said: 'We do have a rolling programme of window replacements. We certainly have not told anyone in this road five years ago they were due windows and now said they won't be put in for another two years.'

Last year, the Norwich City Council announced that its window replacement programme, which costs �19m and will see 10,700 homes fitted with new windows, was due to be completed in 2015. The new windows are aimed to keep homes warmer and more energy efficient.

At the time, officers had identified 16 areas of deprivation among council stock based on the income of people living in those properties.

Do you have a story for the Evening News? Call reporter Kate Scotter on 01603 772326 or kate.scotter@archant.co.uk