Hyde resident Andy left with huge hole in ceiling after '˜botched' plumbing

Andrew Wooldridge from Emsworth says other problems with the Hyde Group has seen workmen fit kitchen tiles on top of wallpaper.

He said he rang the housing association’s out-of-hours emergency line after water started leaking from a pipe above his bungalow ceiling more than two weeks ago.

He claims a workman came out and advised him to make a small hole in the ceiling to allow the water to drain out, but afterwards the gap grew rapidly to its current size.

Mr Wooldridge, of Silverlock Place, said: “The hole just got bigger and bigger, because as the water streams through it becomes like wet cardboard and starts falling though where it’s all unstable.

“It was so wet and unstable I had to cut part of it away.”

The initial hole Mr Wooldridge made with a pen-knife to stop the ceiling collapsing is now 2ft wide, he says.

The leak has since been fixed, but he says the damp patch above his lounge door has spread to the surrounding plaster.

The Hyde Group said it was in ‘constant communication’ with Mr Wooldridge and that the ceiling must be allowed to dry out before it can be repaired.

Mr Wooldridge claims the cause of the leak was a gate valve fitted when workmen from the Hyde Group put in a wetroom earlier that day.

“I was just sitting here on a Sunday afternoon watching a film and I heard this dripping noise.

“I thought it was a tap or something in the kitchen. I got up to investigate and as I walked though the lounge door I got soaking wet.

“The water was just cascading through the ceiling, and it was where they put the join in.”

Mr Wooldridge claims that an emergency plumber who called round told him to make a small hole, otherwise the ‘ceiling would come down’.

He says in more than three years of living in his bungalow flat, he has had a number of problems, including workmen fitting tiles on top of wallpaper in his kitchen.

A spokesperson for the Hyde Group said: “We responded swiftly to fix a leak reported at this property recently, and are working with the resident, Mr Wooldridge, to complete repairs to his ceiling at the earliest possible opportunity.

“It is essential that, following a leak, the affected areas dry out completely before repairs can be completed.

“We have advised Mr Wooldridge of the anticipated schedule for completion and Hyde’s regional contracts manager is due to meet with him on Thursday, March 31, to discuss any outstanding issues in greater detail.”

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