A TERMINALLY ill man and his wife have been living with a giant, leaky ceiling for two years whilst waiting for repairs that never came.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Michael Jones said his step-dad and his mother have been living with a collapsing and leaking ceiling in their lounge for a couple of years despite raising this to Slough Borough Council and Osborne, who repair council-owned properties.

His step-dad has terminal lung cancer with a prognosis of two years and his mum has a lung condition called Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and has a tube in her throat “constantly” to help with breathing difficulties.

According to Mr Jones, he claimed he has contacted Osborne and the council “several times” from October 2019 to sort the problem out, with repairmen visiting his parent’s flat in Turton Way, Chalvey, on up to eight occasions to have a look at it.

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However, nothing has been done and the son says the issue has worsened as time has gone on – resulting in the hole spreading further out into the lounge.

As a result, the family are forced to use buckets to catch the water dripping out of the ceiling, particularly during heavy rain.

Mr Jones said he felt “fobbed off” by Osborne who do “nothing” after they visit the flat or when he continually raises the problem on the phone. He also said nobody in the company takes personal calls but was told he would get a callback, only for it to never happen.

Slough Borough Council

Slough Borough Council

He said: “Despite they [his step-dad and mother] being in this situation health-wise and Osborne are fully aware of their situation, you would think that would hurry things up a little bit.”

Mr Jones added he has been back in contact with the council, only to be told to contact Osborne as they carry out the repairs.

However, he managed to get in contact with the council’s complaint department over the contractors where a technical inspector will be sent out to have a look at the ceiling and put it to Osborne for repair.

He said: “Whether it actually gets fixed beyond that point is anyone’s guess.”

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A spokesman for Slough Borough Council has apologised for the delay, saying it was “unacceptable”.

He said: “We are extremely sorry that Mr Jones’ step-dad and mother have been in this situation for so long and the repairs will be carried out as a matter of urgency.

“Though the issue with this flat was only reported to us in July, there has been an unacceptable delay in sorting the problem and we apologise for this delay.”