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Edinburgh Live
Edinburgh Live
National
Iona Young

Edinburgh mum and toddler left stranded in flat with bathroom ripped out

An Edinburgh mum has told how her anxiety is spiking and she fears for her son's health due to housing issues causing the three-year-old's asthma to worsen.

Aimee Somerville, 25, who lives in the Gilmerton area with her only son, told how her housing association tore out half of her bathroom while investigating a flood from a neighbour's flat below.

READ MORE - Edinburgh woman left on trolley in packed hospital A&E corridor for 17 hours

Little Leon suffers from chronic asthma and his worried mum said he ended up in hospital unable to breathe after dust was left around the bathroom where the toilet was torn out.

The flood happened on October 19 when the resident of ground floor flat below the house began to flood from the bathroom, causing damage to the new build properties. Fuming Aimee said the fault is still yet to be fixed.

Speaking to Edinburgh Live, Aimee explained: "I have lived in these new builds for just over a year with my son. Three weeks ago my downstairs neighbour's house was flooded. I called up the emergency repairs line and was told not to use the bathroom till they came out to check.

"I asked what we were supposed to do and when someone would be out and the customer service agent spoke to me rudely and told me I could "p*** in a pan" until someone came out.

"When they finally came to investigate they ripped my toilet and bathroom apart and put us in a hotel room for one night. When we returned the next day I found they had ripped my floor out, left a huge hole in the wall and left it like that for over three days.

"We could barely use it. A few days later someone came out to take measurements and I have never heard back since."

Aimee has now being left with concerns about the impact on Leon's health. She added: "My son ended up in hospital with his asthma the cold from having no insulation or floors and the dust and mess left from the work they did in the bathroom makes it so much worse.

"This was over three weeks ago, my son's health has deteriorated and they not updated us. They just left all the insulation that was pulled out in the bath and mess everywhere else.

"My neighbour is having a nightmare too they have done nothing in her flat yet and her and her three kids have been moved out which could be for months."

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She added: "Leon has been on his inhaler all the time and now they have increased the dose. It's the last thing I want to see him like this, I'm scared I'm going to wake up in the middle of the night and find him unconscious.

"I don't want him using the bathroom at all but we have no choice at the moment."

A spokesperson for the housing association Places for People said: "We are continuing to work closely with our customers to rectify the issues and we are doing all we can to support them."

If you or someone you know has been affected by any of the issues raised in this article please get in touch at iona.young@reachplc.com

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