CONFUSION surrounding a broken toilet has led to a South View resident battling mould in her property.

Nicola Cassell, of Queen Mary Avenue, is suffering with mouldy cupboards after her housing association Sentinel struggled to fix a leaky toilet in her home.

The 54-year-old’s loo has been leaking for over two months, causing mould to reproduce in a cupboard below the bathroom downstairs.

Problems began for Mrs Cassell after she moved into the property five years ago.

The toilet was installed by the previous tenants and due to uncertainty over whose responsibility it was to fix the toilet, mould has begun to grow in her cupboard.

Mrs Cassell said: “I had mould in my kitchen for five years and Sentinel finally managed to sort that out by last winter but now with the trouble in the bathroom it has come back. 

“For three weeks I have had to put a towel down around the toilet and it’s really stinking out the whole house.

“Sentinel have said to me that it is my responsibility to fix it and then say it’s not – they keep messing me around.

“It’s been difficult for me because I suffer with asthma and the smell of damp is just too much for me to cope with.

“You get the feeling when you speak to Sentinel that they just think I’m some stupid woman and it’s only pushing them that after two months they have sorted the toilet.

“But I am still waiting for this dangerous mould to go.”

Sentinel, which owns and manage 10,000 homes, 3,400 garages and 20 shops in North Hampshire, said that it will change its internal processes to ensure errors such as this one do not occur again. 

Kevin Hartshorn, assistant director for Asset Management at Sentinel, said: “Our customers do have the option to replace their kitchen and bathroom fittings at their own expense. But if there’s a problem in the future that means something needs to be replaced we’ll fit one of our standard products rather than a like-for-like replacements. This has caused some confusion over the repairs to this property because it has non-standard fittings. 

“We did complete all repairs that were reported, and we know about the mould problem in the cupboard and we’re dealing with that too. And we’ve tightened up our internal procedures so this shouldn’t occur again.”