A woman is living in fear that her loo will explode while she’s sitting on it, due to a blocked-up sewage pipe.
The long-running sewerage saga has plagued 79-year-old Sarah Kelly for months, with the pipe swiftly blocking up each time it is cleared, as there has been an underground collapse.
The latest blockage at the Linwood flats in which Sarah lives has been ongoing for the past three weeks, reports the Daily Record.
Sarah, a disabled Widow, said she is “terrified” each time she sits on the toilet, worrying that something is going to erupt from the pipe below.
“I just cannot take it any longer,” she said.
The Renfrewshire resident has been at her wits end after her local council and Scottish Water have refused to carry out a proper repair.
They had cleared the pipe in the past, but staff reportedly told her they won’t be back, and that it is the residents' problem.
Now a second councillor is trying to come to her aid, as Labour’s Jim Sheridan tried and failed to make a breakthrough in May.
Linwood Tory Scott Kerr is calling on both authorities to deliver an “urgent solution”.
Councillor Kerr said: “This is no way for anyone to live, let alone an elderly woman. It is completely appalling that she is having to live with human waste in her midst. With each passing day, it is having more and more of a detrimental effect on her health and well-being."
Kerr said there “simply shouldn’t” be a legal dispute over who is responsible, while a “distressed” Sarah is left waiting for the issue to potentially be resolved among solicitors.
“There is an elderly woman at the heart of this story. The Council and Scottish Water must find and deliver an urgent solution to this issue once and for all,” he said.
“Everyone involved needs to resolve this immediately and I will be continuing to push for that to happen.”
Vulnerable gran Sarah, who has health issues including the lung condition COPD, described the stench as being “terrible”, particularly on a hot day.
The sewage spills out right at her window in Bridge Street.
“Nobody can even hang their washing out on the back green and I cannot open my window,” she said.
“This has become a public environmental health issue, yet the public authorities are squabbling and doing nothing to help me get a permanent fix.”
Renfrewshire Council and Scottish Water have both been contacted for comment.
