NHS nurse left in tears by mess Falkirk Council contractors made of her home

For the last seven months Margaret Scott, who purchased her flat in Derwent Avenue, Falkirk, back in 2003 has been forced to put up with roofing replacement and roughcasting works that she, as an owner occupier and not a council tenant, had forced upon her by the local authority.

Her front garden area has been totally ruined by scaffolding erected by the contractors employed by Falkirk Council and her flat was also left in a terrible state when workers tried to install cavity wall insulation.

“I came off a shift and I was cleaning for about nine hours with the mess that was left in here. There were polystyrene balls, dust and dirt everywhere.”

Now she has had a bill from Falkirk Council asking her to stump up cash for the works.

She said: “They want me to pay £15,000 for work I didn’t want done in the first place. And the job the contractor has done has not been carried out very well – that’s five star money for a one star job.

“I mean, they actually sealed my windows up with silicone. I couldn’t open my windows, which is a real safety risk. I have phoned the council a number of times about this and I’m not giving them anything.”

Falkirk Council hired the contractors in question to replace the roof of the maisonette and also roughcast the building.

Margaret feels the work which she is now being charged for was not even necessary in the first place and when workers were carrying out their task they did it in such a haphazard way, they even cut through a television aerial and there have also been problems with blocked drains.

The scaffolding, which was in place for longer than it would have been due to the COVID-19 lockdown, has also left the grass area and border outside Margaret’s ground floor flat in a terrible state.

Falkirk Council, while not mentioning anything about the money it demanded from Margaret, stated it was aware of her complaints regarding the works being carried out at her property.

A council spokesperson said: “Unfortunately due to lockdown the scaffolding was in place for longer than intended. However, the scaffold was removed last week. “There is still painter works, smooth rendering and flat roof works to be completed at ground level along with tidying, cleaning and general reinstatement works of the grass areas.

“We met with the owner last week and have reassured her the remaining works will be completed shortly.”