Bust boiler leaves mum's house under water
Family home "ruined" after water tank ruptured. - Credit: Laura Lock
A young mum and her kids had to flee their home after the boiler broke spraying water everywhere and causing her ceiling to fall in.
Laura Lock says she was lucky to get her baby out as the ceiling bulged just above his crib.
The mum-of-three, who lives in Woodcock Road, has suffered various problems with her boiler and water system in the last two years and has called heating engineers Gasway out to check numerous times.
“I last had Gasway out to check the system on December 16 last year and they assured me it was fine,” she said.
But on Boxing Day Laura's water tank ruptured leaving several rooms under water and ruining carpets and electrical appliances.
“It has been a nightmare," she said. "I can only describe what looked like a storm had broken out in my house.
Laura was lucky to get her 10 month old son out of his cot in time. - Credit: Laura Lock
“I’ve never seen so many sparks, they were coming off the lights and the appliances.”
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After spotting the sparks she ran upstairs grabbed her 10-month-old baby from his cot and dashed to her neighbour's while she waited for the fire brigade to arrive.
“I did attempt to go back into the home to salvage some of our belongings but because the ceiling was coming down the fire brigade wouldn’t let me in," she added. "So I stood helpless outside watching.”
She asked the fire brigade if there was anything she did wrong, to which she was told it could have all easily been prevented.
“The fire brigade told me I was lucky to get my baby out," she said. "The water was coming through so rapidly."
The water tank in Lauras 14 year old sons room had ruptured. - Credit: Laura Lock
The council have given Laura and her baby emergency accommodation in a hotel while her other two children are staying with their dad.
A spokesman at Gasway said: “We’re sorry to hear of the incident with the property’s water tank and appreciate this is a difficult time for the family.
“This is an unforeseen incident that wasn’t reported to us.
“As soon as we receive instruction from Norwich City Council, we will carry out repairs to the hot water and heating system.”
A city council spokesman said: “We have been keeping in touch with Ms Lock Laing since we became aware of the problem. Everything is being done to ensure she’s being kept up to date with all key developments.
“Our contractor will be assessing the problem and reporting that back to us as soon as possible. We will naturally share this with Ms Lock Laing with a view to getting her safely returned to her home as quickly as we can while she remains in safe and secure temporary accommodation.”
Laura Lock thinks the companies need to take better care to ensure this does not happen to other families. - Credit: Laura Lock
