A DISABLED pensioner who was left with no ceiling or electricity in her kitchen and unable to use her bathroom, has received an apology from her housing association after her son made a complaint.

Edna O’Connor, 94, lives in a flat in Dereham Court, Malvern, which is managed by Sanctuary Housing, and after a leak was reported by her son two weeks ago, workmen visited and removed the ceiling and disconnected the electricity in the kitchen and bathroom lights.

But they did nothing else at the time, leaving her without a working kitchen and unable to use the bathroom until, after a complaint from her son, Nigel Cuthbert, the repairs were finally finished on Wednesday this week.

Mrs O’Connor said: “I couldn’t use the shower or bath as there was no light and I was worried I would fall.

“When I used the toilet, I had to leave the door open to let light in from the hallway.

“I had polio as a child so I use a walking frame inside the house and a wheelchair when I go out.

“There was water dripping in the kitchen, leaving the floor wet and I was scared I might fall in there too.

“Sanctuary Housing offered me a hotel but I didn’t want to live there and I couldn’t stay at Nigel’s house as he has stairs and I couldn’t climb up them.

“It was getting me down as this had been going on for so long.

“Sanctuary Housing needed to get on with the work sooner – I shouldn’t have had to live like that.”

Mr Cuthbert said: “Sanctuary Housing did suggest that my mother could 'decant' to a hotel. We were not told who would fund this.”

A spokesman from Sanctuary Housing told the Malvern Gazette a hotel would have been paid for by them.

Mr Cuthbert added: “My mother was not keen on leaving her home for an unspecified amount of time at her age. She also needs close access to the bathroom in the night with but there was no light in there.”

A spokesman for Sanctuary Housing said: “We are sorry that it has taken too long to complete the repairs at Mrs O’Connor’s home and for the inconvenience she has been caused.

“We completely understand her son’s frustration and while delays initially occurred because we were unable to gain access to the property above to locate the cause of the leak, we acknowledge that we have fallen short of the high standards of customer service that we aim for.

“An appointment was booked to visit Mrs O’Connor’s home on December 11 to carry out the work, and we will also be looking at how we can make amends to her.”

Mr Cuthbert said the leak has now been fixed and the electricity has been reconnected.

On Sanctuary Housing’s website, they say: “With over 69,000 affordable homes in England, Sanctuary Housing is one of the UK’s leading social landlords.

“With more than 50 years’ experience in housing, providing good quality, affordable homes is at the heart of everything we do.”