A COUNCIL tenant has been forced to wait nearly four months for essential repairs to be carried out in her home.

Vi Minns, of Defoe Crescent, in Mile End, reported her badly damaged living room wall to landlord Colchester Borough Housing in January and repairs have still not been carried out.

Mrs Minns, 54, said: “I’ve been told it isn’t their responsibility and that it is up to me to sort it out with the landlord next door.

“But I am the tenant, they are the landlords and surely it is up to them to either do the work and ask for payment somehow from next door’s landlord or take the lead in getting payment first, if they want.”

She added: “I have been waiting seven weeks now since the plaster fully fell off and I can’t do anything about it.”

The badly damaged wall was caused by a significant leak from a neighbour’s shower, which was ill-fitted. That house is owned by a private landlord.

A Colchester Borough Homes spokesman said: “We are aware of this case and have already completed some repairs on the property.

“However, before the final plastering and completion could be arranged the leak next door needed to be fixed and time taken for the walls to dry out.”

A housing officer is due to visit Mrs Minns today *MON* to make final arrangements for the repair work.

The spokeswoman also said Colchester Council would support Mrs Minns if she wishes to make an insurance claim against the neighbouring landlord.