A nurse was “nearly killed” when the ceiling of her housing association flat off the Holloway Road collapsed on Friday.
Gráinne Kelly, 50, was making a cup of tea in her Clarion-run flat in Lorraine Road when the kitchen ceiling collapsed due to a leak she’d been complaining about for four years, leaving a “giant hole”.
Ms Kelly says bits of falling rubble struck her on the head and shoulders and she could have been crushed if she was sitting at the breakfast table, directly below where the main portion of ceiling caved in.
She told the Gazette: “I just started screaming so much that my daughter thought somebody was trying to murder me.
“It hit my head and shoulders and luckily it didn’t kill me – I was so shaken up.
“If I had been having my breakfast I would have been crushed and would not be talking to you right now.”
She started crying as she relived the “traumatic experience” and said she called Clarion about 15 times on Friday. It said a surveyor would visit that day and that Ms Kelly and her daughter Krystal, 25, who also lives at the address, would be moved to emergency accommodation that evening.
But the mother says neither of these promises materialised and they had to sleep in the flooded flat over night, despite protestations that her daughter is asthmatic.
They were moved to a hotel in Shoreditch for Saturday and Sunday but have today been told to return to the flat, even though the ceiling is still not fixed.
Ms Kelly, who works as an agency nurse, says the rubble and water damage has ruined some £2,000 worth of furniture and kitchen appliances, including her fridge and tumble dryer.
“But it’s not even the possessions I’m most upset about,” said Ms Kelly, who’s lived at the address since 1994.
“It’s the mental distress this has caused me.
“It was so scary and they still haven’t done anything to fix it.”
A Clarion spokesperson said: “We are sorry that the ceiling collapsed in Ms Kelly’s property and are committed to completing the required repairs as soon as possible.
“We were last notified of an issue with the roof in May and completed works at that time. Unfortunately this does not appear to have completely resolved the situation.
“We can confirm we did offer temporary hotel accommodation to Ms Kelly and her household while the current works are underway however this offer was declined by Ms Kelly initially.
“Later Ms Kelly contacted the out of hours service and a further offer of temporary accommodation was made by us and accepted by Ms Kelly.”
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