Lansbury Park woman suffering from severe mental health illness left nine days without bath or shower by council

A woman who suffers from severe mental health illness was left for more than a week without bath or shower facilities, while work was carried out on her council house.

Jackie Phillips, 50, and Phillip Holloway, 55, of Lansbury Park were left with an unuseable bathroom for nine days during work by Caerphilly County Borough Council to install a shower for Ms Phillips, who suffers with mobility problems.

Ms Phillips suffers from severe depression and anxiety and the couple were offered alternative accommodation after Caerphilly Observer contacted the council.

Speaking before the council had offered the accommodation, Mr Holloway said: “The situation we find ourselves in is untenable. How can you expect someone with mental health problems to live like this?

“Even for me, it’s mentally and physically draining. It’s the damage to our property and the damage to our lives that’s affecting us.”

A spokesperson for Caerphilly County Borough Council said: “The Welsh Housing Quality Standard programme underway in the Caerphilly County Borough aims to deliver significant improvements to tenants’ homes, including specialist adaptations, where needed, to meet the needs of specific households.

“The work being carried out at this property does include the installation of a wet room which can take, on average, up to ten working days to complete.

“An electrical fault was identified at the property during the works which did, unfortunately, cause some delays to progress. The tenants have been kept fully informed and washing facilities have been available at the property throughout.

“We have instructed our nominated contractor to treat outstanding works at this property as a priority and the tenants have been offered alternative accommodation whilst works are being completed, which they have accepted.”