Family surprised as great-gran gets £50 Asda voucher after blaze destroys home

28 January 2023 , 18:32

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A blaze gutted Agnis' flat in East London a fortnight ago (Image: Agnis Asumadu-Sakyi)

A great-gran whose council flat was destroyed in a blaze was stunned to be sent a £50 Asda voucher as compensation.

Agnis Asumadu-Sakyi got the gift card for the paltry sum from her housing association – where the top executive earns £233,000 a year.

The Sainsbury’s worker, 68, is now staying with her daughter Chelsea Cambell after the inferno gutted her ninth-floor flat in Bow, East London, a fortnight ago.

Chelsea, 36, said the voucher made things worse for her mum, adding: “They should be doing something more to help. No one’s even come to see her face to face. It’s been so shocking.”

Agnis Asumadu-Sakyi, 68, is now staying with her family (Agnis Asumadu-Sakyi)

More than 70 firefighters tackled the blaze, believed to have been sparked by a cigarette discarded on a shared balcony outside the flat which Agnis had lived in for 27 years.

London flat for rent for £1,400 a month with bed tucked away in kitchen cupboard

Agnis was put up in a hotel by her housing association but moved in with Chelsea after becoming unwell.

The Bow blaze is believed to have been caused by a discarded cigarette (Agnis Asumadu-Sakyi)

Agnis lived in the flat for 27 years (Agnis Asumadu-Sakyi)

She was also offered another flat, but it was rejected due to antisocial behaviour nearby and the distance from her family.

Housing association Poplar HARCA said: “We have provided Mrs Asumadu-Sakyi with hotel accommodation until a suitable new home is available.”

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