Flood-hit family beg to be moved

A Herefordshire family say they are begging their social landlord to move them from a flood-prone house which they say isn’t safe for their one-year-old son.

Ian Vaughan and fiancée Sheena Mustoe say their Stonewater-owned property at Cherrybrook Close, Hope under Dinmore near Leominster say they have been flooded more than 30 times in their time there, most recently as a result of Storm Bert on the weekend of November 23-24.

“I was up at 4am on Saturday keeping the water out of the house, with bedding and whatever came to hand,” he said.

“We get it particularly badly, the garden is completely destroyed, but all the properties on the street are affected.”

Meanwhile all three including little Blake have recurring health issues, which combined with the the time spent repeatedly dealing with the consequences of the flood damage have impacted on Mr Vaughan’s ability to do his job as a psychology support worker.

After previous floods in October, Mr Vaughan wrote to Stonewater, which owns nearly 40,000 affordable homes across England, saying: “With a baby in the house, the risks are significant. Relocating us to a safer environment must be considered as a priority.”

A Stonewater spokesperson said: “We’re working hard to support Mr Vaughan and other customers around the country affected by the floods from Storm Bert. Our specialist groundworks and drainage partner are continuing their work to significantly help protect Mr Vaughan’s home in the future.”

The homes at Cherrybrook Close “have flood defence doors and subfloor pumps fitted, airbricks that self-close to minimise risk and sandbags are available to customers if required”, they said.

“However, we appreciate the difficulty in protecting homes against such unprecedented amounts of flood water and will continue to work with local authority partners to identify any other preventative measures that can be taken.”

Acknowledging that Mr Vaughan had submitted a rehousing request, they added: “We’ve reopened his case, and a member of our team will be in touch to discuss his options.”