27 July 2023 , 15:16
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A mum and her autistic son were forced to live in filth when raw sewage flooded into their bathroom each time neighbours flushed their toilets.
Human waste flooded into Katie Burden’s toilet and bath, from neighbouring toilets. Wastewater filled with poo and even sanitary products were blocking her toilet because of a problem with blocked drains and pipes outside their block of flats.
Katie, 22, contacted the council several times but was still made to wait a week until the problem was fixed. She says: "I kept trying to call the council to help and telling them how bad it was, but they just kept saying they couldn't do anything. They even told me to stop ringing them.
“Every time my neighbours flushed their toilet it would come out of mine - my floor was filthy. I was told there was an issue with the drains and pipes outside the block of flats but the council couldn't do anything until July 14.”
Human waste filled their bath and toilet from neighbouring toilets
It took the council a week to resolve the problemThick brown waste from the toilets covered Katie’s floors while sewage also came out of the bath’s plug hole through the pipes. She used mops and paper towels to clean the mess, but when she ferried them through the kitchen they dripped onto the floor. She has now ripped the tiles up. The mess also soaked Arlo’s bath toys.
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Katie is still waiting for new tiles to be laid in her kitchen and bathroom which were ruined by the sewage. The mum-of-one says although she tried to keep her son Arlo, 3, away the council didn’t offer her any temporary accommodation.
Katie from Norfolk says: "I had to use all my towels to try and soak it up. It was vile. Arlo is autistic and all his sensory bath toys were ruined as well. It made me feel nauseous having to try and clean everything up while making sure my son and pets were staying away from it all. "It got to the point where I just sobbed my eyes out because no one was helping me or my little boy.”
A Norwich City Council spokeswoman said: "The leak was clearly upsetting and distressing for everyone in the household and we're very sorry we weren't able to fix the problem faster.
"Our out-of-hours contractors couldn't fix the scaled pipe at the property at the same time as they cleared the blockage.
"The repair required equipment that was not immediately available but our contractor was able to return two days later to complete the repair."