A housing association tenant unable to wash his dishes for more than two weeks has been left furious after being told to clean them in his bathroom.
David Forrester, from Middleport in Stoke-on-Trent, reported the blocked kitchen sink to housing association Midland Heart after he was unable to unblock the drain himself, Stoke-on-Trent live reported .
Midland Heart told him to "wash his dishes in his bathroom sink" until the issue could be fixed.
The retired gardener said: "The kitchen sink became blocked on Wednesday, November 13 and I reported it to Midland Heart on the same day.
"I got up in the morning and went to make a cup of tea and the water was in the sink and it wouldn't go down. It's stopping me from being able to wash my dishes.
"So I bought a plunger and tried to unblock it and when that didn't work I bought some liquid to try to unblock the drain but that didn't work either. It cost £10 all together.
"I've called Midland Heart seven times to ask them to come out because it's an emergency. They also said that I should wash my dishes in the bathroom sink but that's not big enough and I don't want dirty dishes in my bathroom.
"It smells horrible like sewage and I've got a big pile of dirty dishes that stink as well and it's a mess. I have to light a scented candle to take the smell away.
"I have no dishes to eat off so I've just been making sandwiches all the time as I can hold them in my hands."
Mr Forrester added that the situation was now negatively impacting his health.
He said: "I can't keep doing these things because it's making me ill. I've got a bad chest as it is and the smell has given me a cough.
"I need somebody to come out and unblock the plug. It's not good enough. I've got depression and I don't want this.
"It's making my depression worse because I've been living in dirt for more than two weeks.
"I have to go out all day to get some fresh air because I can't stay stuck inside smelling the horrible smell."
Mr Forrester's friend Adele Smith said the situation was "disgusting" and she found it upsetting to see him living in that way.
She said: "It's making him ill and when I go round there the smell is also going on my chest. It's not good enough.
"I think it's disgusting, really disgusting, it's making me really upset. David pays his rent - and it takes this long to fix his sink."
Midland Heart allows 28 days for non-emergency repairs.
Midland Heart's head of maintenance Paul Barker said: "We’re sorry that Mr Forrester has experienced a problem with his sink.
"Small repairs, such as unblocking a kitchen sink, are normally the tenant’s responsibility, but we do make exceptions in certain situations.
"This blockage was reported to us on November 13 and we booked a repair for November 29, which is within our published 28-day time frame for non-emergency repairs.”
