http://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/3553876.Old_soldier_Ron_homeless_after_flood_7_w...

Old soldier Ron homeless after flood 7 weeks ago

4:00pm Tuesday 29th July 2008

By Sarah Calkin »


A WAR veteran was left to live in a damp, asbestos ridden bungalow after his home flooded and seven weeks later, he is still homeless.

Ron Wood, 85, shivered through the winter at his home in Park Lane, Canvey, after his old boiler packed up in January.

Castle Point Council provided him with some electric heaters as a temporary measure, but it was not until the start of June they sent workers around to install a new boiler.

And then the problems really began.

A leak halfway through the installation flooded the bungalow and saturated the carpet, which had to be ripped up, revealing asbestos floor tiles below.

Mr Wood, a Royal Engineer’s veteran who served in North Africa in the Second World War, suffers from bowel cancer, Parkinson’s Disease and has weak lungs which means he has to use a nebuliser three times a day.

His family are now paying for him to stay in a guest house until the council sort the problems out.

Mr Wood’s son Reg, 58, a plumber was shocked at the quality of the work done. He said: “Since January my father has had nothing but trouble.

“When they did finally come around and fit a new boiler, a two-day job took two weeks.

“They cut through some wires which they have just fixed with tape, they left dust everywhere and they haven’t marked the gas pipe properly not to mention the flood.”

Mr Wood wants the council to pay for the replacement of the carpets so his father can move back into his home of the past 20 years. But despite apologising to the family, the case has been passed to the council’s legal team which has to decide whether the council is liable or not.

Meanwhile, for the past week, Mr Wood has been living in the Grosvenor guest house in Westcliff which has special facilities for older people after his doctor advised him to move out to protect his health.

Mr Wood said: “When are the letters going to stop and the work going to start? Let’s get the work done and argue about it later.

“At the moment it’s my dad who’s suffering.

Manager of the council’s landlord services David Randerson said: “The council will be doing anything it can to try to rectify the problems, but it depends entirely on the contractor.

“If the problem is with the contractor then we have to go through legal processes.”