Woman has lived with a hole in her kitchen ceiling for the last year

A woman from Bridgwater in Somerset says she’s been living with holes in her ceiling for the last year as her housing provider hasn’t arranged to fix it.

Lisa Cornwall says the leak from her bathroom into her kitchen for over a year has left her reluctant to have visitors or even use the shower.

She has constructed a makeshift drain to hide the two holes. Above them is a wet room shower, which is leaking. Her housing provider, Stonewater, cut the holes to explore the leak in the early part of last year and that’s how it has stayed.

She said: "I don't have people to my home. I don't want any - It's embarrassing. Why would you want people to see that?"

The delay appears to be over Lisa’s disability. Stonewater advised she needed an Occupational Therapy assessment for them to install a shower tray.

As social services got involved, the situation went "back and forth" as the months rolled on, Lisa said.

The holes were created as the housing company explored an existing leak

Lisa contacted ITV News after seeing a report on another family’s problems with the same provider.

She said: "Really, sadly for that family, I felt relieved somebody else was going through this. But I was also horrified that young children were living in their circumstances, and it kind of made me feel that if I come forward, perhaps somebody will start to take notice of the way Stonewater are leaving their tenants."

David Lockerman, Director of Housing Operations at Stonewater, said: "We’re really sorry this has taken so long to fully resolve.

"We attended immediately to do an emergency repair when the leak was first reported and made two subsequent visits to complete the work.

"However, we were asked by Lisa to hold off, as she wanted a different type of installation (the bathroom is currently a level access wet-room and Lisa wants a shower enclosure with tray).

“To be able to make that change, we advised that an OT assessment would be required to make sure it was suitable for her needs. We understand Lisa then had to liaise with Adult Social Care, Somerset, regarding the assessment.

“We recognise it wasn’t acceptable to have left a hole in her ceiling while that was going on though and we should have chased things sooner.

"The good news is that we’ve now given the go-ahead to fit the new shower type that Lisa wants and are in touch with her to agree a convenient date for the work to be done.”

Since ITV News visited Lisa, she has received a date for the repairs to her home.