does back boiler need removing?

[venablc]

Hi,

We recently had a gas man round to remove and old 80's style gas fire (see here), after removing it we found a backboiler behind it which as far as i can gather is a solid fuel on which has been left connected but obviously is never used.

here are some picture of the backboiler:
pic 1
pic 2
pic 3

He said that before he could fit the new recessed gas fire in its place that this back boiler would need to be removed. Even with the back boiler in place there is still around 4 inches more clearance at the back then is required for the fire and i can't see any reason why it would need to be removed.

Is it neccesary to remove the back boiler? and if so is it an expensive job?

 

[swbjackson]

It's a safety hazard if left in place.

http://www.hse.gov.uk/services/localgovernment/boilers.htm

 

[venablc]

Thanks for the reply, is it a big job to remove these?

 

[swbjackson]

Last one I took out took a day including making good. It's a right messy dog so plenty of dust sheets required.