Pensioners treated for burns after using UV tanning lamp to heat home

TWO pensioners have been taken to hospital with burns to their faces and eyes after apparently using a UV tanning lamp to heat their home.

• Pair left UV lamp on for hours

• Both treated in hospital after progblems with vision

An ambulance crew discovered the pair, both in their 70s, after being called to a tenement in the Gorgie area of Edinburgh at about 7:30am yesterday.

Rescue workers found that a UV lamp designed for short tanning sessions had been left on for up to five hours to try to warm the property.

Both men were taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary by ambulance where they are still being treated for their injuries.

One of the injured men was named locally as 74-year-old Robert McCartney.

A neighbour in Wheatfield Road, who did not want to be named, said: “The first I knew about it was when the gas man came this morning to check for carbon monoxide. I was a bit worried and the next thing I knew there was an ambulance. I never actually saw the two men go into the ambulance, though.”

She added: “I don’t really know him [Mr McCartney] well but I know who he is. He keeps himself to himself.”

Mr McCartney recently featured in an article about the area on the local council news website.

He revealed he had worked for the cleansing department for 18 years.

In the article, he added: “There’s good shopping and it’s handy for my club.

“It’s too busy, too much traffic and some people fly-tip.”

A spokeswoman for the ambulance service said: “We believe a heater was left on for a few hours, I think to get some heat.

“They left them on for a few hours and when they woke up they had burns to their faces and eyes.”

She added: “They were both taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary after complaining of problems in seeing. As far as I’m aware no other people were involved.”