Single Merseyside dad and kids forced to live on takeaways as dirty water runs into kitchen

A single dad and his children were forced to live off fast food because of dirty water pouring into their kitchen leaving them unable to cook.

Tony Mckenzie, who lives in Everton with his four daughters, has had to endure poor living conditions for the last 15 months.

The leak is now so bad that it pours directly into Tony's oven from the upstairs bathroom, meaning he can no longer cook.

Tony said: "When we want to shower we have to wait six or seven hours before we start cooking because if we shower we can't cook.

"We don't cook when the water is going down - there's no way, you couldn't cook, water is going onto the cooker. We buy takeaways, sometimes I bring takeaways home from work.

"Sometimes the kids go and shower at their sister's house - that's how much we have to do to avoid the water coming down."

Tony lives in social housing and has been unable to get it fixed by his provider Torus.

Torus initially sent an engineer out to his home to assess the leak and a hole was cut out of his ceiling to release the water that had gathered there.

Since then, workers have put plastic wrap over the bathroom tiles and removed lightbulbs that had filled with water to prevent the family from being electrocuted.

Torus apologised for the delays in carrying out the works to Tony on 1 April, which were described as "non-emergency repairs". A photo taken by Tony shows a section of the kitchen ceiling has collapsed.

Other photos show several buckets the family have had to put around the kitchen to catch the dirty water coming from upstairs. The leak has now also spread to the hall and has become a slip hazard.

Tony said: "We feel depressed. We are paying a lot of money in rent, £520 a month. My six-year-old daughter, she fell in front of [the workers] - she was passing through them and water was everywhere.

"The engineer was removing lights, the water is getting into the lights now, and when she was trying to walk past in the kitchen she just fell."

A spokesperson for Torus said: "We sincerely apologise to the customer; on this occasion, standards have fallen lower than what we expect at Torus.

"On Wednesday, our Assets Team visited the customer to discuss the situation, whilst our plumber attended to deal with the immediate priority of stopping the leak in the bathroom.

"The customer’s Neighbourhood Officer also has visited to provide additional support if needed and to be a single point of contact. Our team have also been out on site to investigate a permanent solution, carrying out a survey of works needed and are working with the customer to agree a resolution.

"We can assure the customer that action will be taken quickly to resolve and put any damage right."