Bury St Edmunds resident Chelsey Parker says she has been ‘living in a nightmare’ after four-year water leak at her Marham Park home

A Bury St Edmunds resident has spoken of ‘living in a nightmare’ after a four-year water leak damaged her home.

Chelsey Parker, 33, said she was afraid the ceiling at her housing association home on Marham Park would collapse as a result of the leak.

Water has been trickling from her upstairs bathroom to the hallway below, causing the ceiling to sag.

Housing association Clarion, based in London, apologised for the issues and said it was looking to install a wetroom to resolve the problem.

“I feel upset, angry and depressed,” said Chelsey, who lives at the house with her daughters aged eight and 16. “It has made me and my family suffer for such a long time.

“It has ruined my carpets, wardrobe and flooring as well as shoes, towels and clothes.

“I like my house to smell nice, but as soon as you walk in you can smell the mould, which the carpets are full of, and we all have quite bad asthma, so the mould isn’t good for our health either.

“The carpet is all wet, which has made me slip many times and I have had to go to the hospital because I’ve fallen over.

“It takes me a few hours to built myself up to go upstairs because I’m scared I might fall over and hurt myself or the floor might collapse.

“I shattered my ankle about five years ago when I fell down the stairs. I have to be very careful because if I shatter my leg again I could become permanently disabled.

“I’ve been living in a nightmare.”

Chelsey said the problem began two months after she moved to the newly-built property at the end of 2019.

She said she had raised the issues Clarion repeatedly, but said nothing had been done to resolve the problem.

“It’s dangerous,” said Chelsey. “I rang and emailed them but they don’t answer.

“They said they’ll fix it, but they have said that for four years and the issue is still ongoing.”

“It’s making me miserable.”

A Clarion spokesperson said: “Our surveyors believe the source of the issue is not a continuous leak but only occurs when the bath is used therefore installing a wetroom will provide a lasting fix.

“We are working with the council to install this. Once completed Clarion Response colleagues will return to repair the water damage to the walls and ceilings.

“We are in contact with the resident and will continue to be until the issue is resolved.”