A desperate Harold resident whose home has been regularly flooded for the past 13 years has called on Havering Council to end her misery by fixing the outside drains.

Veronica Emans' says her Farnham Road flat is being destroyed by a leaking waste pipe which collects water from her neighbours' sinks and baths and runs through her kitchen on its way to the drains.

Her attempts to resolve the problem, which forced the Post Office under her flat to close again last week, have resulted in repeated visits from the council's drainage contractors, Southern Drains, but she says the nightmare keeps returning.

"Every four or five months I have to call out plumbers to rod the pipes and push the blockage through."

She said "Where it goes nobody knows but there is obviously some sort of fault because it keeps happening and I'm sick and tired of mopping up the silty muck. It's a health hazard."

Mrs Emans feels she is being driven to madness by the council's lack of action to find the root cause of the problem.

A Havering Council Spokesman blamed the tenants of the flats surrounding Mrs Emans' home for causing the blockages.

He said: "The reoccurring problem in the flats waste system is due to tenants disposing of oil and grease in the sink or toilet which solidifies in the stack pipe. The stack is clear at present but the problem could occur again if tenants continue to dispose of their waste in this way.

"A letter will be sent to residents in the vicinity advising them to dispose of oil and grease safely and sensibly."

Published Monday January 12, 2004

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