A Babergh council house tenant who claims she had "sewage coming up through the bath and the kitchen sink" has described her "constant struggle" to get repairs done.

The tenant, who wishes to be kept anonymous, lives in Bildeston with her partner and two children.

She said all the required repairs have now been carried out, but the process took a long time.

She claimed: "I have lived in this house for about nine years, and in all that time it has been a constant struggle to get repairs done. We had sewage coming up through the bath and the kitchen sink, which spilled all over the surfaces and the floor."

A council spokesperson said they could not substantiate the sewage issue through their records. Like the tenant, they said there were now no outstanding issues at the property.

The tenant claimed the council refused to do anything about it, saying it was the water board's responsibility.

"The water board said it wasn't up to them because they couldn't detect a block in the pipes outside, so it had to be located in the house.

"We now know it was because a stack that runs from the toilet upstairs down to the kitchen was full of limescale. Gradually the limescale had built up and it erupted.

"We were getting nowhere with the council or Anglian Water, so we had to spend money for emergency plumbers who cut a hole in the ceiling to access the problem.

"Little did they know there was asbestos in the ceiling. Nowhere in the council reports on the house was it mentioned that there was asbestos in that ceiling."

A council spokesperson accepted repairs may have taken longer than they might have liked, but explained they had no confirmation of any presence of asbestos that would require action at this resident's property.

Leakage before issue fixed (Picture Contributed/LDRS)

A spokesperson for Babergh said: "We have no confirmation of any presence of asbestos that would require action.

"We would never knowingly leave any tenant in inhabitable conditions without urgent action being taken.

"We accept, however, that there have been previous repairs at this property that may have taken longer than we might like, and communication with our tenant could have been better.

"Should they wish to make an official complaint to us directly, we can investigate fully."

Babergh and Mid Suffolk councils referred themselves to the regulator of social housing in March when they realised inspections and safety reports had been missed.

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