A family are at their "wits end" after being forced to "wade" through their neighbours' sewage in their bathroom.
Dave Stott, 50, has lived in the Beaconsfield flats in Prescot for 40 years, and officially bought his ground floor property through the Right to Buy scheme in August 2020. Dave currently lives in the flat with his two daughters, one of whom is pregnant, and said the family has been experiencing problems with their drains for more than four years.
Although the 50-year-old owns the flat, the drains are in a communal space maintained by the Livv Housing Group. On Wednesday (September 7), a blockage in the drain resulted in raw sewage being pumped into the the family's bathroom, meaning that Dave and his daughters couldn't use their bath, shower or toilet.
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He told the ECHO : “The issues with the drains have been going on for a number of years now. Usually, they (Livv Housing) just come out and jetwash it all clear and then it reoccurs every few months.
"We bought the flat about two years ago but we only own the flat, not the drains outside. It seems that now we have purchased our flat, they are saying its our responsibility, this is absolutely not the case.
“In the meantime, I’ve got a 10-year-old daughter and my other daughter who's heavily pregnant having to wade round in the upstairs sewage. Every time they flush, the raw sewage is pumping into our bathroom because it’s got nowhere else to go.”
Livv Housing Group said they sent out an emergency contractor to "clear the immediate problem" but Dave told the ECHO the blockage was left unresolved overnight, leaving the family feeling "completely abandoned."
He said: “We can’t tell the guy upstairs not to use his facilities but because we share the drain it's pumping straight into the bathroom. I don’t understand where the complete denial of ownership is coming from.
"They (Livv Housing) must have been out three or four times since 2020 for them to do the drains. Its happening that often that we’re on first name terms with the contractor who comes out to fix it.
“Its really bad. It’s human waste so you can imagine what it smells like. When it happens, we can’t use any of our bathroom facilities and would have to go to our local leisure centre if we wanted a shower. We’re at our wits end."
Tony Cahill, Executive Director of Property at Livv Housing Group, said: “We were made aware of an issue with the communal drainage at Beaconsfield on Thursday (September 8) and sent out an emergency contractor to clear the immediate problem.
“The blockage was removed, and no repair issues were identified. However, we understand that the problem is reoccurring and have arranged for a CCTV drain survey to take place in order to identify any underlying issues.”
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