OAP's furniture 'dumped in garden'

Edward Hitch was also left without a phone line for seven days - despite relying on it for an emergency 'lifeline' service if he falls ill.

Mr Hitch rents his property on Ronksley Road, Shiregreen, through Sanctuary which has temporarily re-housed him a few streets away in Concord Road while it carries out repairs.

But the pensioner, who lives with his disabled daughter, claims his furniture was dumped outside the new property by removal men who couldn't fit it through the front door.

And because of his age and health, Edward said he cannot clean-up the mess himself.

"There is furniture all over the garden," he said.

"And as for the phone line BT came as quickly as they could but I shouldn't have been put there in the first place - what if me or my daughter had needed a doctor?"

Edward, who expects to be in his temporary home until after Christmas, had to use his mobile phone to sort out all the problems.

"I have been ringing up Sanctuary, the council, BT - it has cost me a fortune," he said.

"It is not fair for them to treat their tenants like this. I am almost 80 - how I am supposed to move all the furniture on my own?"

"It looks really messy and will upset the neighbours."

But Toni Mosley, head of Regeneration for Sanctuary North, said the company had arranged for the furniture to be taken away.

"Our usual removal contractor refused to move Mr Hitch's belongings from his home to the new temporary accommodation as they had concerns about the state of the furniture," he said.

"To avoid delays to refurbishment works, our building contractors moved the furniture. Mr Hitch had two beds which were too big to get up the stairs so Sanctuary bought him two new ones which were delivered the same day.

"He stated he no longer needed his old bed bases and these were left in the garden. Similarly, he said he did not want his sofa as he was getting a new one and would not let the contractors put it inside the house.

"I visited Mr Hitch and he repeated that he does not want the bed bases and settee and, on his behalf, we have arranged for the council's bulky refusal disposal team to take them away."

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