Sheffield family's horror as ceiling collapses SIX months after leak was reported to council

Fatmata Kamara, who lives in a council home in High Green with her three children, aged between six and 12, says she has suffered problems with damp and mould in a storage cupboard since moving into the property more than three years ago.

But the 33-year-old former NHS care support worker says things got worse when she spotted a leak from her bathroom into the kitchen below around six months ago.

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She claims she reported it numerous times to the council but nothing was done to fix the problem until part of the ceiling caved in on Friday, October 23.

"I’ve been scared for months and telling the council it was going to fall down because there was so much water,” she said.

"But all they did was switch off the shower and the kitchen lights to make it safe, meaning we haven't been able to use the shower for weeks.

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"The ceiling eventually collapsed on Friday, just after I’d got back from the school run. Usually we go straight to the kitchen to wash our hands when we get back but on this occasion my kids said they needed to use the toilet first, otherwise it could have fallen on them.

"I just feel really, really let down by the council. They say everything’s been going slow because of Covid-19 but this has been going on for a long time and one of my children or I could have been badly hurt.”

Ms Kamara said someone had come out that evening to make the ceiling safe and the source of the leak had been identified as a burst pipe but she was still waiting for it to be repaired.

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"I just feel like we’ve been neglected, whether that’s because we’re a low income family, because I’m a single mum or because of my race.”

A council spokeswoman said: “As this was already an issue that was being dealt with by our repairs and maintenance team we don’t have anything to add.”

She declined to comment further.