Bristol man, 80, left without heating after thieves steal boiler

An 80-year-old Bristol man, whose council flat was flooded after thieves stole a central heating boiler, says nothing has been done to fix the mess.

Dennis Foote, who has lived at the flat on Station Road, Henbury, for 23 years, says he has been living without a functional kitchen and living room for nearly three weeks.

On the night of October 10, Mr Foote was woken by a neighbour at 3am, who asked if he had water coming through the ceiling.

He said: "I went into the living room. It was pouring down in there. I had to put up an umbrella."

Thieves had broken into the empty flat above Mr Foote's and stolen the boiler, leaving water to pour through the floor.

The flood left parts of Mr Foote's ceiling damaged and the carpets and furnishings sodden.

Mr Foote said: "I've contacted the council about 12 times, I've had my doctor call them and contacted Age Concern. The council said I had a form to fill in and it would be at least 15 days until a surveyor made a decision about what to do.

"I'm on to a losing battle. In the last few days they've come and taken the carpet up but the council seems to think I can do the decorating. I said 'I'm 80 years old, I can't do that sort of thing'. They've offered no alternative accommodation. I've just got the bedroom and the bathroom. I lost about £50 worth of food."

Mr Foote says the kitchen units will need to be replaced and he has nowhere to store food. Water also got into the cooker and television. A sample of the sagging Artex ceiling tested positive for a low-risk form of asbestos.

Mr Foote now fears he will be spending Christmas on his own because family members, who were due to visit, will not be able to because of the state of the flat. He said: "I'm really upset, it wouldn't take much to make me cry. It's absolutely disgusting."

A spokesman for Bristol City Council said in a statement: "Our initial response to the flood was very prompt and we resolved all the immediate problems.

"The non-urgent repairs to the ceiling have been delayed as there are asbestos products present in the Artex decorative coating, so a specialist contractor is needed. It is expected that the work will be completed next week. We are treating this as a formal complaint and investigating."