A SHOCKED pensioner was left with a wire dangling from her kitchen wall after a charity shop delivery driver cut the cord of her faulty oven with a bread knife.

Joan Russell, of St George’s Street, bought a cooker from the British Heart Foundation shop in St Matthew’s Street in November.

The 68-year-old paid �140 for the Hotpoint cooker plus �20 to have it delivered the following day.

Miss Russell then paid an electrician to have the cooker fitted.

She then turned the cooker on to discover that two of the hobs and half the grill didn’t work, despite the cooker having a sticker attached to it saying it had passed a safety test the day before she bought it.

She contacted the shop to complain and they agreed to come and pick the cooker up and refund the money.

When the delivery driver arrived to collect the cooker, he couldn’t disconnect the wire from the wall as it had been screwed into a panel on the wall.

He asked to borrow a bread knife and cut the wire while the shocked 68-year-old looked on and then left the length of wire hanging out of the wall.

“It really shocked me,” she said. “If I didn’t know to turn it off, that could have been a live wire. It’s not about the money, it’s just the principle of the thing. I’m so disgusted.”

BHF deputy retail director Diane Locke said: “We would like to offer our sincere apologies for any distress caused to Miss Russell. The generous support and donations from the public are vital to our life-saving work.

“We pride ourselves on selling immaculate second-hand furniture and electrical items and are extremely disappointed by the quality and service Miss Russell received.

“Safety is paramount to us and in response to this incident we will be reviewing and implementing any further training needed to ensure our staff are fully briefed in future.”