A mother and NHS worker has developed a painful skin condition from wading through E. coli contaminated water that flooded her Castlemead Estate flat, Camberwell.
Maureen Thompson, 54, a health care worker at King’s College Hospital, has also paid over £4,000 to fix furniture and carpets destroyed during the flood.
A council officer has told Maureen it “doesn’t fix carpets” and won’t replace damaged furniture unless she has the receipts – which Maureen says were destroyed in the flood.
Southwark Council’s website clearly states that flooring repairs at tenants’ properties are the responsibility of the council.
The rash Maureen developed from the E. coli water is itchy, painful and won’t shift despite her using prescribed creams to treat it.
Maureen often works back-to-back nights shifts and arrives home to find her bed sodden with contaminated flood water.
She said: “Hospital work is very demanding and when you come home you want a shower, to eat and lie down to tackle the shift the next day.
“But coming home from work to deal with this water business is too much for me. I feel like nobody is listening to me. I feel like nobody’s on my side.”
Problems began in March 2021 when a burst pipe flooded Maureen’s bedroom and kitchen with several inches of filthy water.
Her carpet, bed, wardrobe and dresser were all destroyed, all of which she’s paid to replace out of her own pocket.
The replacements cost over £4,000 which, earning just £1,525 a month after tax, Maureen can barely afford to pay.
Damp caused by flooding left the walls so caked in mould, that Maureen was moved into a Camberwell hotel.
She lived there for eight months and moved back into Castlemead once the repairs were complete around February 2022.
But on July 17, just five months later, the floods restarted. Maureen spent the next three weeks living in a water-logged home while she waited for the council to repair the leak.
Throughout that time, she had to spread tarpaulin over her floors and use buckets to catch the dripping water.
“I’m worried it’s going to happen again. I guarantee, if you come here in September, it will be back”, Maureen said.
Southwark Council has been approached for comment.