Mental health worker slams Nottingham council after 6ft wall collapses in her back garden and thieves steal her washing
- Alison Cockbill, 41, says it has been two weeks since she heard from the council
A mental health worker has hit out at her local council after it promised to repair her collapsed garden wall, which has left her back garden open to thieves who have stolen her washing – but not until December.
Alison Cockbill, 41, first noticed serious cracks in the six-metre wall, which is owned by Nottingham City Council, on August 17.
But Nottingham City Homes, which is run by the council, told her the wall, which is six feet high, did not count as an out-of-hours emergency. Several hours later, the wall collapsed.
Ms Cockbill, who has lived in the property for 20 years, claims she has phoned the council every day since the collapse but has not heard anything in nearly two weeks.
The council has told her the ‘unsafe’ wall cannot be repaired until December – despite the hole meaning people have been wandering into her garden and even stealing laundry.
Alison Cockbill, 41, claims the council cannot come out to fix the wall until December
She was in the garden at the time of the collapse and says she has since had laundry stolen
Ms Cockbill said: ‘My back wall in my garden is owned by the council, it’s about six metres long and six feet high and it’s a solid brick wall.
‘I called the council up when I noticed significant cracks in the wall and I said I was really concerned it was going to come down.
‘They said they would not accept it as an out-of-hours emergency. A few hours after the call the whole wall collapsed.’
She had been sitting in her garden when the wall fell, and said it damaged a number of garden decorations and plants.
She explained: ‘There were a lot of bricks everywhere so my husband and our children and some of his friends put all the bricks into a pile.
‘There’s still lots of bricks there and the wall is still unsafe.’
A council worker came out to examine the wall the day after the collapse, but Ms Cockbill said she has heard almost nothing since.
She said: ‘I have had temporary fencing put up as my garden backs onto flats. I’ve been phoning every day from when it happened and they told me that they have not got photos of the wall and they are not going to come out until December as that’s the first available appointment that they have.
‘It’s been two weeks and nobody has called me back. I’m being let down.’
She added workers were supposed to come and remove the fallen bricks from the property on August 31, but that they are still in her garden.
Nottingham City Council declined to comment as a claim has been made by Ms Cockbill.
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