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From left, freezing residents Amanda Cave, Maya Hemmings and her mother Daria
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Estate freezes on coldest day
Blunder sees heating and water go off just as winter really starts to bite
ELDERLY council tenants were left with no heating or water for four days on their Camden Town estate because of a mix-up at the Town Hall.
Plumbers were called to Westerham in Bayham Street on Friday after a flood in a flat, turning off the block’s water supply with no notice to residents.
But that information never filtered back to the housing office, according to a source at the council, who said the office was not aware that 33 homes had been without water or heat until they were alerted to it on Monday.
Leaking pipes were not fixed until Tuesday.
Alice Cave, 70, first noticed she had run out of water on Saturday morning.
She said: “I didn’t realise at first because there was still water in the tank, but then it ran out as I went to wash my face. I thought it would just be switched off for a little while but, no, it’s been off for a long time. It’s freezing.”
With no water, residents could not wash up or flush the toilet without fetching several buckets of water from the on-street tap outside.
Ms Cave had to ask her daughter to stay with her to help out because an accident 30 years has left her with a bad back. She also suffers from long-term bronchitis.
Daria Hemmings lives in the block with her daughter, Maya, 8. She didn’t realise she had to turn her central heating off until a neighbour warned her it could be dangerous. “They told me the tank could blow up. I freaked out, something could have happened to us. It’s completely out of order. Why didn’t the council tell us to switch it off? There’s been no leaflets through the door, no phone calls, nothing.”
She added: “Imagine what it’s like for the older people – somebody might freeze. I know they probably won’t but if they can’t move or take care of themselves… My neighbour is in a wheelchair. His wife usually looks after him but she’s ill as well. I’ve seen their carer getting water for them.”
A council press officer said: “We will always try to keep residents fully informed about situations like this. In this case there was an extremely unfortunate breakdown in communication that meant residents of Westerham weren’t properly kept up-to-date. We apologise wholeheartedly for this and we’re investigating why that happened.”
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