An angry mother claims repairs were not carried out to her house for a year and led to a fire.

Burnt - Sian Foster, with her son Josh, 3, in the fire-damaged remains of her home in Allfields, Dovercourt. (40521-b)

Sian Foster, 27, said a housing association did not fix plumbing faults at her Dovercourt home despite reporting them several times.

The electrics blew on Sunday night and Miss Foster lit candles for light which set fire to her lounge.

She said: "The water has been leaking through a light socket in the kitchen and the ceiling has cracked because of it.

"This has been going on for a year and it has not been fixed. When my lights blew, I lit some candles and ended up having a fire as a result."

The mother-of-two was at her home in Allfields with her five-year-old daughter at the time. Her three-year-old son was staying with his father.

Miss Foster said she had been complaining about problems to her housing association, London and Quadrant Housing, for a year.

A spokesman for London and Quadrant said: "Our records show that an electrical contractor dealt with a lighting problem back in November 2003.

"We have no record of any further complaint from Miss Foster regarding electricity/lighting or a water leak until first thing on Monday. At this time, she reported she had suffered a fire in her living room.

"As a result of her call, we arranged for the rear door to be repaired (broken by the firefighters gaining entry), the electrics to be checked and a reported leak under the bath investigated.

"She was asked if she needed temporary housing but Miss Foster said she could make her own arrangements."

He said arrangements have been made to meet Miss Foster tomorrow to assess the damage and discuss repairs.

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Published Thursday, January 13, 2005

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