A great-great-grandmother was left vulnerable to thieves because of a “comedy of errors” with security doors at her home.

Mildred Dorothy Thomas, 97, has lived at Harrow Council’s sheltered accommodation, Edwin Ware Court in Crossway, Pinner, for 20 years.

The home’s two entrances had not worked since August 14 – and during repairs, these doors were left wide open for a long period.

Ms Thomas’s daughter Mireille McCarthy, 67, from Chesham, was furious when she found out.

Ms McCarthy said: “The maintenance service for this particular sheltered home is absolutely appalling.

“Anyone could have come in, it could have even been an animal or a thief.

“Sometimes residents leave their doors open to allow ventilation into the building.

“If there were a trapped animal in the building, like a fox or dog, the residents would be at risk.”

A second smaller fire exit at the home was locked for more than a week, prompting concerns over fire safety.

Contractors from the council then took out the locking mechanism and did not replace it, leaving it open and unable to close - this lasted for nearly a month.

Both doors were fixed last Friday.

Ms McCarthy said: "This is like something from Monty Python.

“This comedy of errors left my mother’s security at risk.

“It’s awful that my mother could be charged rent and maintenance costs and this happens.

“The people living there don’t have much but they could be burgled or attacked in their own building - It’s disgusting.”

A Harrow Council spokesperson said: "We took action as soon as we were aware of these issues and they’re now fixed.

"Fire safety is obviously incredibly important, and where a release mechanism on a fire door is faulty, our policy is to disable it until a repair can be made.

"It is clearly better to have an unlocked closed door, than a fire exit that can’t be used.

"The fire door now has a manual override in case this problem returns.

"In the case of the main entrance, we’ve completely replaced the doors and their motors."