A METHIL couple have claimed shoddy workmanship caused part of a wall to collapse in their council house, writes Aileen Robertson.

Pat and Dave Guild, of Bayview Crescent, had to sleep in their living room on Tuesday night, after a section of wall in an upstairs bedroom fell apart.

Fife Council recently removed a leaking chimney from the semi-detached property and workers were on the roof on Tuesday replacing tiles.

“It’s shoddy workmanship by the joiners and tilers,” Mrs Guild (61) said yesterday.

“I was moving stuff out of the room from 11pm to 3am this morning and that was going non-stop. I’ve not had any sleep.”

The couple were downstairs during Tuesday evening’s thunder storms when lightning hit scaffolding outside their home.

When Mrs Guild went upstairs to make sure everything was all right she discovered the “carnage.”

Mr Guild (69) said, “I could hear stuff rattling and Pat went up to see if the roof was leaking. By the time I got up the stairs she was standing there bubbling and greetin’.”

Mrs Guild told The Courier she believed the damage was caused by work that was carried out by the council, and not the weather.

She said, “I phoned the council’s call centre last night and I was held in a queue for 25 minutes, and when the boy answered me, right enough I was bit upset I’ll admit, he then put me on hold three times because he doubted me when I said I had a hole in the wall.”

Mrs Guild said she had to take everything out of the room and the other upstairs rooms were packed with items that had been moved.

Her daughter Ayesha and her husband helped move belongings before Mr and Mrs Guild finally got some sleep on their living room sofas in the morning.

Mr Guild uses a stairlift and has breathing problems, and Mrs Guild added that she was concerned about the impact the dust and upheaval would have on her husband’s health.

Fife Council accepted blame for the incident and apologised to the couple.

Les Newsome, Fife Council’s housing maintenance supervisor for the Methil area, said he visited the house yesterday morning to investigate.

He said, “A redundant chimney was removed as it was leaking water. Unfortunately, some bricks were loosened during the procedure.

“We are planning to start repairs to the wall today. The ceiling of the bedroom is also being replaced and we will decorate the room too.

“We apologise to Mrs Guild for any inconvenience that this situation may have caused her.”