Westminster: Housing issues made woman feel 'left to die'

A disabled woman has spoken of spending Christmas alone in a flat in awful conditions

A disabled woman living in sheltered accommodation has said she spent Christmas alone and unwell in terrible conditions.

Barbara Hainsworth, 63, claims she and others living at Ada Court in Maida Vale, west London, feel they have been "left to die" by the housing trust.

The issues include a broken lift so she was stuck in her flat, bedbugs and the removal of communal facilities.

Central and Cecil Housing Trust (C&C) has said it is fixing the problems.

It also said it was trying to help Ms Hainsworth.

She said: "It feels like we're just waiting for Godot. We've just been left to die. And I'm not at that age that I'm prepared to do that yet."

Ms Hainsworth added: "It's all a big mess really. The whole place is disgusting, it's running alive with cockroaches and bedbugs.

"Little by little they've reduced everything that made that place a nice place to live."

A spokesperson for C&C said the trust is aware of the bed bugs, and that it has a treatment programme in place, with the situation slowly improving.

Ms Hainsworth claims during this time, she struggled to speak to anyone working for C&C in the Ada Court office to understand when the repairs would be carried out.

Asked about the problems with the lift, the trust said: "We're sorry for the recent issue with our service lift and understand Ms Hainsworth's concerns.

"The welfare of our customers is extremely important to us, and our team is available on site every day at Ada Court."

It added that when the lift was not working, "three other passenger lifts were available which are large enough for our customer to access with their mobility scooter and a member of staff helped her to use them when she asked for help".

It added that all four lifts at Ada Court were now "fully operational".

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