A pensioner has been left terrified and homeless after her kitchen ceiling came crashing down on top of her.
Urszula Koprowska, 77, said she is amazed she wasn’t hurt after the entire ceiling in her Dundee flat came away, just as she was leaving the room.
She managed to dodge the worst of it but fears she would have died otherwise.
‘I could have been killed’
She said: “If it had happened a moment earlier it would have landed fully on top of me.
“As it was I was just turning to come out of the kitchen when it happened.
“I dread to think what would have happened, I could have been killed.”
The damage was caused by a leak from the flat above, which Urszula reported to Dundee City Council three days earlier.
Now, the former Polish teacher has been forced to move out because her Forth Crescent flat is no longer habitable.
However, Urszula, originally from Poland, said the whole situation could have been avoided if the council had taken action as soon as she alerted them to the problem.
Leak reported three days earlier
Speaking through her friend Karolina Wrobel, Urszula who speaks little English, said she first notified the local authority of a leak coming from the flat above three days before the devastating collapse.
She said: “Two weeks ago, water began to gush through my kitchen ceiling.
“I contacted the council but after five hours of trying to get through on the phone I gave up.”
Urszula said she then drove to the city centre to go to the council offices where a security guard gave her a number to call.
Eventually someone was sent to the flat.
Water gushing down the walls
Urszula said: “I thought he was there to fix it but he was only doing a report.
“Meantime the water was gushing down my walls and into the electric light fittings and the gas boiler.
“I was absolutely terrified about what was going to happen. ”
She said that she waited two days for someone to come to repair the damage or for a call telling her what was going to happen.
Meantime Urszula was having to use buckets, basins, towels and duvets to try to contain the water that was pouring into her kitchen.
Finally on the Sunday someone from the council arrived.
Ceiling came crashing down
Urszula said: “They went to take a look at the flat upstairs and the next thing I knew my ceiling came crashing down.”
Since then Urszula said she was then left with the mess to clear up herself with no one from the council coming along to help.
With Karolina’s help she has tried contacting the council on numerous occasions to get help.
An hour after we contacted the council on her behalf on Thursday, Karolina received an email offering support and guidance and reassuring her someone would try to be at the property to deal with the mess within a week.
‘I don’t want to go back’
Urszula said: “I really don’t want to go back there.
“I’m really afraid and the house is now a health hazard it is so damp and horrible.
“I lie awake at my friend’s at night thinking about it and fearful what might happen if I have to go back there.”
She added: “I feel that no one at the council has really wanted to know or help me.
“I feel completely ignored and I’m very upset by what has happened.”
A Dundee City Council spokesman said: “We are assisting and undertaking the repairs accordingly.”