A daughter who is mourning the loss of her mum is furious with her local authority after several failings at the family home.
Sharon Jackson said the initial fault saw council workers wrongly force their way into her home after being told it was unoccupied and needed to be emptied.
The second mix-up happened when Sharon’s gas and electricity were cut off - because British Gas had received notification from the council that her house was empty.
Now 56-year-old Sharon revealed the two blunders have put her under immense stress and left her unable to properly grieve for her recently dead mum Ann.
Following her mum’s death on December 6, Sharon informed Stoke-on-Trent City council, cleared Ann’s property in Williamson Avenue, Ball Green and returned the keys to the authority with a letter clearly stating the address.
At the bottom, she included her own address in nearby Dale Avenue and contact details, as requested, in case there were any queries, according to Stoke-on-Trent Live.
On December 17, Sharon was dumbfounded to received a phone call from a friend while she was at work, stating that council workers had forced their way into her home.
She said: “I was at work when I got a phone call, and I was getting lots of messages, saying the council were breaking into my house.
“I had to leave work and go home to find they had broken in through the front door. Apparently they had been told that I had done a moonlight flit and the house was empty. There were three vans outside. They had been traipsing though the house.
“My friend had told they they had the wrong address. By the time I got back, they had gone.
“The front door handle was all loose because they hadn’t fixed it properly. I felt unsafe in my own house after 20 years of living there.”
Sharon, who lives at the property with her 27-year-old son Reece, contacted Stoke-on-Trent City Council after the mix-up.
She said: “The woman I spoke to couldn’t apologise enough. They sent me a bunch of flowers and said they would compensate me for the time I lost at work, although I haven’t received that yet.
“But it shouldn’t have happened in the first place. I can’t understand how the council could get the address wrong.”
Thinking that was the end of the matter, Sharon was at home watching TV on January 11 when her electricity and gas suddenly went off.
When she spoke to British Gas, she was told the council had informed them her property was empty.
She said: “At first I thought it was a power cut but when I looked out I saw it was only my house. I rang British Gas and explained what had happened and they said I had been cut off.
“She said they were told by the council in December that the house was empty and the account had been closed. I have had to open a new account to get it sorted out.”
Sharon, who works at Jackmark Engineering in Longport, says the situation has made what is already an upsetting time even worse.
“I’ve not had time to grieve over my mum because I’ve been so busy sorting out the council’s mess. I’m a nervous wreck and I’m crying all the time.
“It has been one phone call after another trying to sort out what’s going on. I’ve even rung Severn Trent to make sure my water isn’t going to be cut off as well.
“I’m disgusted by the council’s ineptitude.”
A city council spokesman said: “Firstly, we would like to extend our deepest sympathies to Sharon and her family for their loss at this very difficult time.
“We have 18,000 council properties and regrettably a genuine administrative mistake was made on this occasion that incorrectly listed the tenancy for ending, which resulted in a lock change being arranged.
“As part of that process, utility companies are automatically notified at the same time.
“However, we appreciate this shouldn’t have happened and we have spoken to Sharon and apologised unreservedly. We have also told her we will also cover any financial costs incurred.”
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