Slough woman’s home ‘like living in a sewer’ after council contractor fails to fix leak

A Slough woman says her house ‘is like a sewer’ after council contractors failed to repair leaky pipes. Emma McDermott said she and her 19-year-old son have spent five months at the ‘stinking’ property on Meadow Road in Langley, after the council’s housing repair contractors Osborne failed to come out to do repair jobs.

Back in 2019, repair work began in her bathroom after it was flooded but wit as halted due to the national Covid-19 lockdown in March 2020. All the wooden fittings, rotten wood, and exposed pipes were left as is. Ms McDermott tried to get Osborne to come down and fix the issue when restrictions were lifted but to no avail.

But the work was left for too long as the problem trickled down into the kitchen and caused another flood. She said the kitchen cupboards have now rotted and the house smells like a sewer.

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She said: “It’s like living in a sewer. You get up every morning and your clothes are stinking of it. It’s sub-standard.

“My son and I have been living in that for five months trying to get cook and every time you wash up, you have to move your body away from the sink because it’s all pouring out under the sink.”

“It’s awful. I’m living in a property that no one should be living in,” she added.

After an Osborne inspector looked at the damage, Ms McDermott was told repair work will start on May 9. However, no one showed up that day and when she called Osborne, she was told the work was ‘cancelled’.

When Ms McDermott, who took three days off from work, later called back, another call centre operator said the schedule date ‘was in error’ and was waiting for approval. Yesterday an Osborne spokesperson said: “Our aim is to get these issues sorted as soon as possible.

“We have contacted the resident concerned to confirm a convenient appointment and our resident liaison officer will be the point of contact moving forward. The work has been authorised and our surveyor will be visiting the property tomorrow (May 13).

“The surveyor will inspect the property and scope the extent of the work required. We anticipate that subject to the surveyor’s inspection report that the work will be completed by the end of next week.”