Evacuated tower block couple call for compensation

Karen and Colin McGrory were among the residents evacuated from Mercia House

A couple who were among dozens forced to leave a Coventry tower block for days after it was flooded have called for a housing company to provide compensation.

Colin and Karen McGrory were evacuated from their home in Mercia House, near Lower Precinct, after a water pipe fractured on 8 August, causing serious damage.

The couple have called for Citizen Housing, which runs the 17-storey tower block, to hand out compensation after they lost a number of pet fish and were forced to eat out for a week.

The company said that all customers were offered the opportunity to apply for food vouchers to help cover additional costs of the evacuation.

Mr and Mrs McGory said they were lucky that their flat was not one of those to be damaged by the water leak.

However, due to the power being turned off, they said a number of fish in their tank died.

"It's been extremely disruptive," Mrs McGory said.

"We've had to live in hotels, and we've had to buy meals out, which has cost us a lot of money."

Fire crews were called to the 17-storey tower block after the leak on 8 August

The couple said they were offered £125 to replace items in their fridge which perished during the outage but were yet to receive any additional food vouchers from the company.

They said they were "not happy" with the way the housing company had dealt with the incident and called on them to reimburse residents not only for costs during the outage but also for the distress caused.

"I'd like to think that maybe they might think, 'Well, everybody's been through an awful lot, so here's some compensation for the time you've spent out of your flat, for the disruption,'" Mrs McGory said.

In response, Peter Gill, director of housing, care and support at Citizen Housing, confirmed that food vouchers were available to all residents to cover any additional food costs.

"We recognise that individual circumstances may differ, and if any customers believe they were eligible for food vouchers but did not receive them, we encourage them to get in touch with us directly," he said.

Mr Gill also asked people to avoid speculation about the cause of the flood while investigations continue.