Yahoo News 'My toilet exploded leaving faeces everywhere - I've lost my home and now I'm sofa-surfing'
A disabled mum claims she was forced out of her home as her toilet 'exploded' twice in 48 hours, rendering her Birmingham flat a 'biohazard'. Mum Lynda Lutwyche woke to faeces, urine and tissues 'everywhere' in her ground floor flat - and clams she was later told: "Get out of the property and lock it down."
The 56-year-old's temporary accomodation was flooded with sewage not only from her own toilet - but from her neighbours above - on Saturday, November 23. After it exploded a second time on Sunday, family members picked her up and brought her to her daughter-in-law's home, where she's now staying until the council find her suitable emergency housing.
Everything inside the flat, from sentimental photos of her late son to £200 worth of shopping, has been lost in the 'disgusting' incident, she claims.
The grandmother-of-two told BirminghamLive: "I woke up to my toilet exploded so everything everywhere, poo, urine, tissues. I don't think I will be able to salvage anything. I'm totally heartbroken because my son passed away many years ago. I lost sentimental photographs of him, I can't replace them.
"I lost my whole home in the space of 48 hours because the council haven't done what they were supposed to do a year ago. I can't take anything out of that house because it's unfit. I need everything replaced, it's disgusting." Birmingham city council said it was aware of the issues and a "history of blockages" at the property along with a neighbouring flat.
Additional works and visits have been completed this week to find the root cause of the blockages, a spokesman for the authority added. For the past year, Lynda claims she had been complaining about her loud toilet - which made "horrible noises" every time anyone in the block flushed their toilet.
In May, the whole block had a new toilet suite fitted by Birmingham city council. But since then, she claims the back of her toilet has been "constantly leaking."
They had been out three or four times, but she claimed had failed to fix the root cause of the problem, leading to "explosions" from the blockage last weekend. Of the incidents, she recalled: "There was three or four inches of poo water all over the house.
"Sunday morning I woke up and it exploded again. I'm on the ground floor so I'm main outlet so I get all of it from the other flats. It is disintegrating the floor. You walk on it and can hear it sagging underneath.
"They came out again and he said he hadn't got the right tools to fix it. He said: 'To be fair, it's not an easy fix'. He told me it was totally disgusting and they would rehouse me.
"The supervisor on Sunday told me to come out of the property, he said 'lock it down, it's a biohazard. Get out of the property.'" She was then told it was unfit for anyone to live in and it would take around four weeks to fix.
"My son came and got me, if he hadn't I'd still be in the flat," she added. Birmingham City Council say the mum has been offered temporary accommodation this week, but it wasn't taken up.
The mum, who has prolapsed discs in her back, mobility issues, incontinence and COPD among other medical issues, now sleeps on a recliner sofa in her daughter-in-law's property until the issue is resolved. She explained: "It's not helping my back. I can't sleep flat because of COPD and sleep apnea." Because she is in a house with the toilet upstairs, Lynda said she is having "accidents from both ways", after trying to get to the bathroom on "hands and knees".
A statement from Birmingham city council read: "We are aware of the issues related to this tenant’s property. An officer attended the property on November 23 and identified a blockage, which flooded the property.
"The blockage was cleared and a thorough clean was completed. Additional visits have since been carried out to find the cause of the blockage to resolve the issue to prevent this occurring in future. Additional works completed have included a camera survey to establish the location of the blockage, drain repairs, further cleaning, and intensive deep cleaning.
“There has been a history of blockages reported at this property and a neighbouring property, both which resulted in repairs and clearing the blockages. Action taken to resolve this recent incident was taken swiftly to ensure the property is habitable for the tenant. We have offered the tenant temporary accommodation throughout this time, however they declined, wishing to stay with family until the issue is resolved.”
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