Family waiting weeks for vital pipe repair (From Thisisdorset)

Family waiting weeks for vital pipe repair

4:00pm Saturday 12th July 2008

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A YOUNG family in Stourpaine is washing in a kitchen sink and using a mobile toilet after waiting more than three weeks for a broken sewage pipe to be repaired.

Annmarie Dear first alerted Signpost Housing to the problem in her rented home in Hod View on June 24. But a replacement pipe is only due to be fitted today.

"They've left us with nothing. We have no toilet, no bath and no sink. The sewage pipe is a health hazard," said Mrs Dear.

The first workman visited the property on Friday 4, but was unable to complete the job, and said he would book a "multi-skilled" colleague, she said.

But the family was forced to call Signpost's emergency call-out number the following day when sewage from the toilet seeped into the dining room.

"Every time we pulled the chain, urine came out into the dining room. A workman came at about 4.30pm but said he couldn't do anything," said the mother-of-three.

A temporary repair was made for the weekend, but the workman who visited the following Monday said he feared a risk of asbestos.

"Signpost offered us a two-bedroom, ground-floor flat in Blandford, but it wasn't suitable for my husband who is disabled," said Mrs Dear.

"I had to ask my mother if we could stay with her. The three children slept inside and my husband and I stayed in their caravan in the garden," she added.

The family received the all-clear to return the following day after investigations found no risk of asbsestos contamination.

But nearly a week later, they are still without bathroom plumbing.

John Wright, a director of Signpost, said repairs to Mrs Dear's property had represented "exceptional circumstances".

The choice not to accept the alternative accommodation offered had been the family's, he added.

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