Sheffield man left out of pocket and angry at council after toilet explodes with waste from flats above

Jordan Feetham, 26, of Skelton Lane in Woodhouse has been left angry and out of pocket following an incident which saw raw sewage and excrement explode out of his toilet every time his neighbours flushed their loo.

 

Jordan, who works as a retail assistant, lives in the ground floor flat of the three-storey building and was forced to ring Sheffield City council when he realised what was happening.

 

He said: 'The toilet literally exploded every time they flushed, waste came out it was like the fountains at Peace Gardens.

 

'I grabbed everything I could, towels, duvets, even the dog bed just to stop it spreading into the hall way.'

 

He says that after ringing the council at 9:30pm, it took three hours for someone to come out and assess the situation, but the council say different. 

 

The incident was then passed on to Metro Rod, who sent a worker to clear the blockage through a man hole cover outside the flats.

 

Jordan was then left to clear the mess inside, which made the floor '˜bubble' and made him '˜physically sick'. 

 

Since then, he says he has been ringing the council everyday but has just been '˜pushed from pillar to post.

 

'The floorboards are soaked, it's unhygienic I've had to put cardboard down as I don't even want to stand barefoot on it,' he said.

 

'I've not even got a towel to my name, an inspector came out on the 30th and I told him, and he just said '˜it's nothing to do with me', it got me angry.'

 

Jordan, who has lived in the flat for over five years, then went to the housing office but was told he would not be reimbursed for the damages to his belongings.

 

He added: 'They just told me I should have home contents insurance, so I've been left out of pocket as they refuse to pay damages.

"I've missed days off work waiting for someone to come out and fix it.'

 

'They've not offered another form of accommodation, no date or timescale for the flooring to be fixed. It stills smells, you can smell it every time you go in.

 

'I paid for disinfectant to clean it, but I'm still without towels and the dogs bed. It all adds up.'

 

Since the incident, Jordan has been forced to travel to his mothers house in Manor Top, but he says he simply can't afford to keep paying for transport and needs the situation sorting urgently. 

 

Janet Sharpe, Director of Housing and Neighbourhoods Service at Sheffield City Council said: 'Mr. Feetham called us to his home and we came out to him within two hours but the toilet blockage couldn't be cleared.

 

'Our subcontractor unblocked it the next day and since then an inspector has also been out to inspect the property. As a result, we will be renewing the plywood floor, floor tiles, bath panel, the WC and wash hand basin and resealing the bath.

 

'A supervisor has spoken to Mr. Feetham today and will call out on Friday at Mr Feetham's request to arrange a date for the work to be done.

 

'One of our customer services team contacted Mr Feetham last week but no mention was made of any other damaged items so we will discuss that with him as well.'