| Repairs 'hell' for tenant |
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| Written by Andrea O'Neill | ||||||
 A DISTRAUGHT grandmother has slammed a council housing scheme after contractors “demolished” her Westwood home.Maria McSorley, 46, was reduced to tears as she told the East Kilbride Mail how workers from the council’s HomeHappening programme damaged her furniture and left her without heating or a cooker for four days – in freezing conditions. Maria says the team of contractors left her house like a death trap, failing to cover live wires and to report a leaking boiler that brought down her living room ceiling. Maria, who was only just discharged from hospital last week, says the stress of the situation has made her sick with worry. She said: “First they made me move all my furniture and lift a carpet by myself because the removal van didn’t show up, then they cut a gas chord, took my cooker and left my freezer switched off, so I had no heating or food all weekend. It was hellish. “I was supposed to look after my three year-old granddaughter this weekend but I couldn’t let her near here with all the bare wires coming out the wall and the ceiling caved in. “I could hardly breath for all the dust – they all had protective masks on. It’s like the house from hell.” Contractors hired by the council began work re-wiring Maria’s house in Leeward Circle on Thursday as part of the council’s £190million housing investment programme, which aims to upgrade its 25,000 homes by replacing kitchens and bathrooms. Maria says they left her home in ruins after failing to investigate a bevelled ceiling which caved in the following day, covering her new leather suite in dust and water. Maria says the contractor left her in the lurch by saying, “I think you’re roof is going to come in – you better see to that” before leaving for the weekend. She added: “I was disgusted with the contractors. No one checked the bathroom to see where the leak was coming from and they just left. “They didn’t even tell me they weren’t going to show up on the Friday. I had to ring the council who told me they wouldn’t be back until the Monday. It’s a disgrace.” The council offered Maria one electric heater to heat her three-level home on Saturday. Westwood councillor Gerry Convery visited Maria on Monday to survey the damage, and housing boss Donald Gray has since launched an investigation into the incident. Councillor Convery said: “It’s been an unfortunate incident which hopefully won’t happen again. It could have been averted and is down to individuals, not the contracting company. I’m glad to say the issue has been rectified.” A council spokesman said: “The council apologises for the inconvenience caused to Mrs McSorley and has agreed to repair and decorate the damaged ceiling and clean her furniture.” So far, nearly 20,000 properties have been completed by contractors, who carried out about a third of the kitchen and bathroom installations.
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